Tuesday, July 14, 2009

Why don't we believe what we tell our children?

We preach to our children that it's ok if we are not as pretty or as fast or as rich or a million other things as someone else. When we have kids ball teams they all get a trophy because we want to teach them that they are as important as anyone else on the team. Everyone contributed. When we have kids races everyone gets a ribbon or medal no matter what place they came in. We tell them that it's ok if they have birth defects, they are beautiful in their own way. It's ok that your hair won't comb right or your nose is to big, that is what makes you unique and special.

So why don't we buy into that concept ourselves? Once we are grown up all the teaching is out the window. Why/how can we tell our children that and not believe it for ourselves. One reason is we feel like we are competing against the rest of the whole world. Have you ever entered a room full of people and felt that you we the oldest, the fattest, the ugliest, the worst dressed, ect... We are constantly comparing ourselves to everyone else.

One of the basic truths is we are all created equal. Your thinking yea right, I can eat a flippin donut and gain 10 lbs and Barbie over there can eat a side of beef and still be a hard body. Well we are all different and like we tell our children that's what makes us special. We do all contribute to the world. We are all beautiful if we want to be. A good first step is to smile more often. Even a pretty person looks dull if they are frowning all the time.

We have to decide for ourselves that we are just as important as anyone else. Tell you a secret, you buy into it and believe it and others will believe it to. I'm sure everyone reading this knows people who aren't good looking or thin or rich or whatever but you respect them and think they are very special. You know others who are drop dead pretty or handsome but have no personality what so ever.

Maybe it's time we started teaching each other what we teach our children. It's ok to be different. What's not ok is to let ourselves go. Just because we are not as pretty or as rich as someone else doesn't mean we can't make the best of what we have. We can do what we can with the hand we were dealt. We can be a real example to our children and not just giving them false hope.

We are a group of people who are striving to make ourselves better with the body and mind we have. We are leading the way to real wellness, not just of body but of happiness. True happiness starts with accepting ourselves, our limitations and our potentials. When we can look in the mirror and say "Ok I have some extra fluff, but I'm working on it" we have the right attitude. We are all unique and special and we are all needed.

We can't change the whole world but we can change the way we look at our place in the world around us. We can expand on our strong points and not dwell on our limitations.

Rambling Panda

1 comment:

Chris said...

Found your blog through the DisBoards, love what I've read thus far. Then I see you are from Southern KY? I'm not that far away, just across the Ohio River from Louisville, in Southern Indiana! I'll be following the blog from here on out. Nice to find you!