Remember What a Blessing Looks Like

I have mentioned in my posts before that I have made lifestyle changes that began on 6/27. By today I am feeling stronger, healthier, and enjoying the changes. Friday I walked 4 miles in 62 minutes on the treadmill. I have lost 18 pounds. But more importantly, it is getting less likely that I will self-sabotage my own strategies.

By now I have my own curiosity aroused, as a matter of fact. I have eagerly wondering what it will feel like when I burst past my old barriers. I am curious to see how it will feel to see those old speed bumps disappear like sand castles being washed away by an ocean tide. It may make me giggle with delight, in fact!

What does a blessing look like? Blessings come in so many forms. Since deciding that I needed to stop hiding parts of myself I began to explore what I was hiding behind and what I was hiding from. I was hiding behind the “extra person” — my own weight gain. What was I hiding from? The potential of rejection. What reasons did I think people might reject me for–and what made me think I was in part unlovable? I am still working that through, and still writing it.  Sitting here today, though, I realize that I never needed to hide in the first place.

You see, I realize that acceptance and rejection come our way to a greater or lesser extent every single day. Do you remember the story of The Three Little Pigs? The first two houses, the wolf blew right over. The third house (built of bricks) stood strong. But here is the thing. Sometimes when a big bad wolf is trying to blow our house down, all we need do is stand strong, refuse to be intimidated, and blow right back in his face. Sometimes he will turn tail and run like heck. Now isn’t THAT empowering!

Remember what a blessing looks like. It looks like love. It looks like God. It looks like joy.