(Psssst! If you’re “late” to the challenge and just getting started, that’s OK too! Just go at your own pace! Start with this blog post and scroll to the bottom, and make sure you have what you need to complete the challenge and fill out the 10 questions you need to fill out before you get started. Then you can take it day by day at your own pace!)
Recap
Welcome! Welcome! Welcome!
It’s day 24 of the Love Your Body Challenge and I am SO glad you’re here! Yesterday was Day 23, and the reason to love your body is:
“Because it’s SO smart.”
We discussed how our body is doing so many incredible things all the time that we don’t even recognize. From pumping blood to carrying nutrients to cells to regulating your body temperature to taking in zillions of bit of information about your surroundings all in an instant to let you know whether you should laugh, smile, or cry.
Our bodies are so amazing and so smart.
Here is what Melissa had to say about it:
“I think taking time to really think about what my body IS doing really helps me forgive it for what its NOT doing. I often find myself lost in self-pity, wondering, and self-loathing because of the functions my body is not performing; the things other peoples’ are doing that are just “normal.” But our bodies are doing SO many things, that it easier to forgive it for its shortcomings if we just keep that in mind.”
I love her honesty and her perspective here — focus on the positive to drown out the negative. Perfect!
Now, Day 24.
Reason #24 To Love Your Body
24. Because it’s resilient.
Resilience is defined as:
1. an individual’s ability to properly adapt to stress and adversity
2. the ineffable quality that allows some people to be knocked down by life and come back stronger than ever
3. the ability to become strong, healthy, or successful again after something bad happens
Man! Is being resilient an incredible quality or what?
To be completely honest, resilience wasn’t a quality I thought much about until a year or two ago, in the months shortly after my Dad unexpectedly passed away. As you can imagine, that was an incredibly painful experience and I still grieve that loss daily.
Within 9 months of his death, I ended a good 6 year relationship (notice I said good, not great). I had to move home with my parents, give up ownership in a shared business venture, and scariest of all, I had to be alone. I was alone for the first time in 8 years (I had a serious 2 year relationship before the 6 year). I literally had never been on my own in my adult life.
In addition, my businesses were undergoing major transitions, and my body was completely out of whack hormonally. Needless to say, I was dealing with an incredible amount of physical, personal, and professional stress.
It was in that time that I recognized my own resilience.
I recognized my ability to get up after being knocked down over and over again.
I tell you what. That is an amazing feeling. Knowing that you can go through utter hell and come out the other side better, stronger, and more grateful is absolutely incredible. It gives you a sense of peace that everything will be OK, all the time, no matter what, because it’s up to you, and you can do it.
Fast forward a couple of years and I’ve met the love of my life, I’ve got two businesses that I feel absolutely beyond passionate about, my body looks and feels the best that it’s looked in years, I’m hitting PR’s in the gym in a few of my favorite lifts, and I couldn’t be happier.
All because I chose to get back up.
Mantra: “My body and mind are incredibly resilient. They not only allow me, but encourage me to get back up after I’ve been knocked down.”
Repeat this (to yourself or out loud) 10 times right now, 10 times during your action step, and 10 times before bed.
Action step: Take 5 minutes to write about a time in your life where you’ve displayed incredible resilience. Maybe it was getting through law school as a single Mom, or leaving an abusive relationship, or losing a loved one. Whatever it is, write about all of the ways you displayed resilience in that time, and allow yourself to bask in the pride that comes with that acknowledgment.
Molly Galbraith is a Certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist and Coach who has dabbled in both Figure and Powerlifting competitions. She is Co-Founder of Girls Gone Strong and J-M Strength.Her life's mission is to help women give themselves grace and compassion when it comes to their bodies so that they can discover and accept what their best body looks like.
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