Read This: May Help!

Hi Everyone
I've been doing a bit of soul searching and found an idea that vibed well with me, and want to share it with you in case it vibes with some of you as well. Theres a researcher by the name of brene brown (i think) and she did a lecture on shame and fear. She mentioned that shame and fear root from the idea that there is something wrong with you. For me it has always been that I am too fat (I was a big child and teased/isolated grades 1-8), and even though at a healthy weight now, and above par fitness level, I was still holding on to this mentality, and so I've been living to lose weight, aspiring to be good enough.

Brown went on to discuss in her lecture the idea of courage, derived from "cor", the latin term for heart. The original dictionary defintion of courage was "to tell the story of your life with your whole heart". You see her study had turned up distinct groups of people, and when she assessed the groups, she observed that the happy, whole-hearted people had one thing in common; they had the courage to be vulnerable. This means the courage to be imperfect, to love whole-heartedly with no guarantee, the willingness to let go of who you think you should be for the sake of authenticity (and making authentic connections with others - the fulfillment of life). Bottom line - the courage to understand vulnerability as fundamental to growth.

This is where I mustered the courage to accept and love my belly, and understand that I am worthy of love, and happiness, JUST THE WAY I AM. I AM ENOUGH. I strongly believe now that the only healthy position to lose weight from is the position of "I am good enough, and will strive towards healthy goals, but no matter whether they are reached or not, I AM ENOUGH". This is the hardest thing to do, but I believe it is the solution. Having the courage to be imperfect.

...Today after boxing I went to starbucks, and instead of refusing to eat anything even though I was hungry, because nothing there was optimal for my body, and therefore remaining in a state of anger and frustration due to this shame and fear of not being thin enough, I bought a greek yogurt with granola (carbs!) and honey (sugar!!). And a funny thing happened - There was no guilt attached. And no anger. No shame. No fear. There was relief. And I don't mean the kind you get towards the beginning of a binge. I mean like a weight had come off my shoulders, like a self-realization, like I was seeing myself for the first time after a long hard road of keeping myself in the dark. And all I had to do was have the courage to be imperfect, to breath deep and let my gut out, to be authentic.

I haven't felt this beautiful in years.

I urge everyone to find the courage to embrace their imperfection in order to live authentically without shame or fear of who they are. Just as you sit infront of your computer right now, you too are ENOUGH.

Im here to help if anyone needs/ wants to discuss ideas with me. Thanks!
In love and unity,
Erika

Thank you for sharing your story

Cracked

Beautiful words,

Thank you <3

Thanks, that's exactly what I was telling myself today in front of the mirror I've noticed that overeating is bringing down my social life lately - I'm shy to go out with my swollen belly. As a result I just sit at home and gorge more And it's getting worse and worse. That's terrible. A vicious circle. Somebody with similar psychological effects here?

I don't get it though.. how can you just be happy with yourself when, well, you're not happy with yourself? I'm so disgusted when I look in the mirror that I've basically banned myself from being happy with my reflection. How do you let that go?!

I think you work on loving and valuing yourself, which can be difficult to do without professional help. But for a start can you think about something about yourself that you like, does not have to be physical.

Cracked