The Body You've Been Given

"To give anything less than your best is to sacrifice the gift."

-Steve Prefontaine

No matter what shape, size or weight, your body is a gift. It's taken me way too many years to understand that. And I'm still learning it today. We grow into our bodies in a world where we are inundated with images of perfection, and now we've joined in the flood of false images by carefully scrutinizing each and every picture we publish on Facebook and Instagram. "Not this one, I look too _______," and we photoshop ourselves to override the blemishes. No matter how many times we have lamented the media's presentation of the human form, we participate in the insanity.

Our bodies are fearfully and wonderfully made. We are masterpieces, handcrafted by the Master Artist-- the same One who paints magnificent sunsets, the One who sculpted the mountains, the One who dotted the skies with millions of stars. We were planned, shaped-- on purpose-- with that bent nose, crooked toes, knobby knees and imperfect complexion. 

The body you have been given is a gift to unwrap and discover-- how amazingly well it works. Fuel it properly, rest it plentifully, and it will give back to you. We have to stop measuring ourselves in the mirror and on the scale. Measure your body by the work it can do-- how fast can you run, or how far? how much can you lift or carry or push? Maybe it's only a pudgy toddler today, but enjoy the strength that is in you. 

Somewhere we lost the joy in moving and letting our bodies work. We replaced that joy with anger and frustration... "I'll never be a size __." And so we punish ourselves with hours of mindless exercise, performed only to make our bodies transform into the unachievable perfect body that we see (airbrushed) on the cover of a magazine. 

Stop.

Exercise for the sake of movement. Let your body prove how strong it is. Enjoy each pound lifted, not lost. Run or ride or swim because it brings you joy, not because you have some mileage goal to meet. Savor the taste of real food, not juiced or processed or falsified and injected with flavors. 

Live.