Women of the World

So I have been going and reading the blogs of all the lovely ladies who came and gave tips and advice for saving when it comes to baby things.  And let me tell you, these are some fantastic women.  I'm in the middle of backreading The Vanderbilt Wife's blog, and I came to a post about hating body parts.  And I wanted to expland on that from my personal view.

I don't really hate any body part in particular.  Some I love, some I am apathetic about, and some I wage war against.  I have curves.  I've managed to lose over 50 pounds since my heaviest and still my breasts are the same size.  I've warned G they probably won't go away.  I have a long torso that seems to go on forever, which makes me panic about how short my legs look (and they are completely normal length legs).  And my hips?  Well, let's just say that when I get around to being pregnant, they will be revered for being "baby birthing hips."  But that's okay.  I like my curves.  After years of wishing I was a tiny waif of a thing, a fragile woman who needed someone else to hold her close and shield her I realized that that is a woman I will never be.

My breasts will one day feed my children.  My hips sway when I walk (which sometimes causes my husband to walk into things) and will someday be a good place to hold a small child.  My hips are strong, they allow me to twirl, dip and sway when I dance.  My legs will never be the shapely go-on-for-miles legs I dream of, but they are strong and can stand firm when things get tough.  I am not a tiny frail thing because I am strong.  Stronger than I ever imagined.  

My husband looks at me like the world's best dessert.  Maybe that is a crude way of putting it, but to him, I'm already exactly how I should be.  When I talk about getting smaller, he just checks to make sure I will still have these curves he's so crazy about.  Curves I've spent a decade trying to whittle away.  So enough.  Enough voices in my head telling me the curves are bad.  Enough distorted mirror images.  It's time I allowed myself to love me as much as G does.  Because I'm a woman, and as G declares often enough, I look like one.  

So women who read my blog, please, do me a favor.  Today look in a mirror and notice the good.  Let your friends, family and spouses love you.  Because I know sometimes letting someone love the parts of you that you yourself don't love is hard.  But you're worth it.  You're a woman---big, small, curvy, boyish, whatever shape you may be, you're a woman.  And a damn fine one at that.