Sh*t happens. Let it strengthen you.
This isn't easy to share, because for YEARS I hid my body any way I could. If you don't know the back story, I was thrown out of and hit by a propellor of a boat when I was 16. I am missing, as you can see, almost the entire top half of my iliac crest(pelvis). My chances to live were slim.
I'll spare you details because that is a whole different story. What I wanted to share was...me, this girl you see who posts fitness pictures on the regular...
I am more than just some fitness freak. I am not perfect, or anywhere close, nor am I trying to be. I don't love to share my progress to get praise. And there is a reason I am so dedicated way greater than having tone abs.
I do it for ME. I do it because many times, I couldn't. I do it because I don't GET to workout, I am ABLE to workout. I am BLESSED to be alive, to be able to use my body, to take care of it.
I used to be a girl who would stand in front of mirror and cry every time I go out of the shower. I used to wear baggy shirts all time, because I didn't want my "dent" to be noticeable. I refused to get in a bathing suit unless it was absolutely necessary. I hated looking at all my scars. I would see girls in magazines and be jealous of what I was missing. I hated that I felt like I looked deformed. I hated that sometimes the pain was so bad I couldn't do the things I wanted to do.
It didn't help that I had been called names like "Mrs. Frankenstein", shark bite, prop (although I didn't mind that one), deformed, a freak, half missing, jokes made about how I only had one love handle, and one time...I was at the beach, and this group of guys placed "bets" on what they thought had happened to me. But no one was ever as cruel and critical as I was on myself...
And it all began, with deciding I was not going to let it define me. It is something that happened to me...NOT who I am. I would not let it be an excuse to not accomplish things I had always wanted to do.
So you see, the girl you see now. I have fought REALLY hard to become her. I embrace it. I love my scars, they show what I have lived through. I don't love my dent, but it is what it is and I am thankful that I still have the ability to push, strengthen and take care of my body. I don't hide behind baggy shirts anymore, I don't stray away from a bikini. And I most certainly don't listen to any negative garbage or rude comments people say, because they have NO idea what I have been through.
I choose to love my imperfections and work my ASS of to be the best version of myself I can be, mentally & physically. I am almost done with week 4 of Insanity MAX 30, a program I never imagined I could...until I believed in myself & overcoming the odds...
So, if you have excuses, obstacles, you feel less than happy when you look in the mirror--
You have a choice. Are you going to let it define you? Destroy you? Or do something about it...and let it STRENGTHEN YOU. Love yourself enough to love all you, not matter what you feel is missing.
