Love What You've Got

April 12, 2018

Twelve years ago today, on 04/12/06 I was lying on a table - a surgeon's table. First I have to say that I am so grateful not to be on that table today and also for the surgeon in question. She did an amazing job. But back to 2006. I remember very clearly the day before the operation. I stood in front of a mirror, naked from the waist up. All of my life I had been critical of my body - something that I had essentially learned as "normal" from the society that I grew up in. Women's bodies are  - or were - still are - considered available for public comment. The magazines, television, movies, billboards, classmates, even family members led me to believe, from a very young age, that a woman's body is supposed to look a certain way and in my mind, mine didn't. And on this day, the day before my body was to be carved into to remove cancer from my breast, I realized as I never had before, that my body was absolutely perfect. Perfect. Smooth, soft, virgin skin, that had been sheltered from the sun, only ever touched by loving hands, and yet criticized by me for my entire life. And now, when I finally realized its perfection, I would be submitting to a scalpel, never to be quite the same. I write this today to remind myself and all you absolutely incredible  people out there that you are glorious. Don't wait to realize it. NOW is the time to love yourself. And when you love yourself you can also stop the comparisons and the judging others. NOW dear ones. Embrace yourself wholly and love what you've got.

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