3-Word Wisdom 8: You are beautiful

I owe today’s wisdom to a  special friend who shared a recent experience….a post-it note, randomly affixed to a box of pasta at a local market, caught her eye in its unlikely placement. Curious, she stopped to read the hand-written message – it said, “You look GREAT today!” along with a website reference, operationbeautiful.com. Her experience compelled me to visit the website and read their mission:  “The goal of the Operation Beautiful website is to end negative self-talk or ‘Fat Talk’.  If this little blog only does one productive thing, I hope it helps readers realize how truly toxic negative self-talk is - it hurts you emotionally, spiritually, and physically”. How do they accomplish their mission? The simple answer is in their slogan - “Transforming the way you see yourself, one post-it at a time.” How powerful. Sign me up!

I have struggled with weight and body image issues since early childhood. After my customary baby-boomer tonsillectomy, sickly little Paula’s health gradually improved – as did my appetite! By age 10, I was “pleasantly plump,” my weight-obsessed aunts would tell me.  

I vividly recall the first sting of pain and humiliation I felt when a boy called me “fatty” in front of our entire 5^th grade class. I dealt with the pain by eating – and keeping to myself – which thereby perpetuated my feeling of self-loathing. I cringed with embarrassment when my mom took me school shopping in the boldly marked “Chubby” section - a moniker I despised - at the Lane Bryant store. I was mortified - and fearful that someone who knew me might walk past the store and see me in the fat girls department. That label haunted me as a child. I spent my junior high and early high school years in the company of the small group of classmates who accepted me in all of my pudgy glory. Age, activity, and my first self-imposed diet (Instant Breakfast and Slim Fast ) eventually whittled off the extra pounds. By my senior year I was at a socially acceptable weight, but I continued to see myself through that “fat lens” into adulthood.

All these years later, I still deal with weight and self-image issues. For years I yo-yo dieted, and in my 30’s I reduced myself into early-onset menopause and near anorexia – yet I never saw myself as thin enough. Thankfully, Hubby did. He has always been my very own “operation beautiful” advocate, and has helped me overcome the occasional negativity that still creeps into my conversations with myself.  I have a much healthier relationship with food now – yet the memory of those hurtful comments and the subsequent negative body image issues still linger. It is an ongoing struggle – yet one that I am committed to overcoming. Tomorrow I'm getting a supply of pretty post-its to start spreading the Operation Beautiful love – and maybe attaching a couple on my own mirror!

Today’s 3-Word Wisdom: You are beautiful. You are perfect just the way you are. Love your lines, your hips, your breasts, your belly. Love yourself. Focus on healthy habits and devote your life to being happy in your own skin. You look GREAT today!

Post-it reads, "You are beautiful just the way you are." Operation Beautiful in action.
Thank you, MCF!