Day Twenty Eight: Body

I love my body.

I love my body even though it seems to hate me. Suffering from Crohn’s disease has made my body at war with itself even on its best days. But even still, this is the only vessel I’ve been given to do good in the world, so I have to love it.

On a good day, I have a stomach ache that makes it hard to want to eat. I usually don’t. Even though I’m starving, the thought of eating makes me feel sick, so I just don’t. On a bad day I spend most of my time in the bathroom become reacquainted with what I previously ate, I fight through migraines without being able to take anything to ease the pain and apparently I can have hallucinations from acid imbalance. (Ask my boyfriend, it was a weird night.)

Long story short I love my body as a whole. I’ve already talked about how I love my eyes and my legs, possibly my two favorite features. I’ve talked about how I love my hair, although I don’t think of it as part of my body; it’s more like an accessory. I really like having a body that functions (as well as it can) and I thank the powers that be every day that it isn’t worse.

I know a lot of people, mostly girls, who hate their body. They think they’re fat, they think they’re too pale, too skinny, too ugly, too wrinkly, etc etc etc. Society has taught women that the bodies we’re born with aren’t good enough. We must mold and sculpt them to be more than human, we need pastes and creams and injections to perfect ourselves. We have to watch what we eat, not because we suffer from a medical condition but because we suffer from the condition of being women. We need to take yoga classes, jog, bike and swim, not because these activities are good for us, but because they justify the sugar in our morning coffee.

This week I want to talk about my body and how much I love it. I want to go piece by piece and tell you what makes me wonderful on the outside and what makes me happy on the inside.

Challenge to my Readers:

Look in the mirror and give yourself an honest compliment. Maybe you can’t say you love your body yet, but I bet you love your hips, your knees, your calves or your nose. Maybe you just need to tell yourself that you’re lucky to have a body that lets you get up in the morning.