I’d be lying if I said that I was at the point in my life where I fully and completely embrace my body.  I totally get that it must be freeing to unconditionally accept yourself, I’m just not quite there yet.    But I can say that I’ve come a very long way.  My teenage years were a period of self-loathing, constantly feeling inadequate in comparison to others. I oozed insecurity.

My harsh inner-critic was so loud, so cruel, so self-deprecating…..it was deafening.  It has taken some growing up and some major work on my self-esteem to get to a place where I can genuinely say that I am enough.

2015 is only half over and yet it has been a rather trying period for me (as was most of 2014), both personally and professionally. Although many people would actually not have a clue the extent to which my resilience has been tested, but it has been. It’s funny because I mastered the art of the “all is well” nod and smile that truthfully it would not be obvious to a sole. I don’t even know if those closest to me understand the depth of my trials and tribulations.

i-h-1I just recently opened a letter to myself that I written at the age of 22.  That is now over 20 years.  I did not expect to wait so long to open it but I never felt ready.  At 22, I was caught up in a vicious food cycle that had basically taken over my life. I remember age 22 being a very tough time in my life; a time of feeling very unworthy and incomplete. I was open to change; I desired change.  It’s hard to believe how a simple exercise would truly impact my life.