From Loathing to Loving - a beginning.

You know those moment...those Aha Moments, when words mixed with strong feelings intertwined with a guttural knowing of TRUTH, invade your entire being?

That is what happened to me one fall day 2011 while I was taking a bath.  I had been reading the book Women, God, and Food and was thinking about my weight, health, and my body.  Just prior to the Aha Moment, I had been lamenting about all my past lose-weight-eat-better failures and felt completely depleted and hopeless. 

Then, something clicked in my head, and that wonderful moment arrived and I realized...

That every time I have EVER tried to loose weight

I started from a place of LOATHING my body

(I would see my reflection in a store window and feel disgust, or I would step on the scale with dread and that LOATHING of my body - and thus a significant part of who I am - would temporarily motivated me, yet ultimately fail me.)

and I wondered, what if, I started in space of LOVING myself and my body?

I knew, in that moment, the incredible power and possible profound impact of those words.  I felt empowered...

and a millisecond later I felt discombobulated and bewildered. 

I didn't know how to start in a space of LOVING my body.  It was a complete change in my thought process and I felt lost.  Yet, I knew that I needed to find my way to that place.

And this year, that is my journey. 

The year of...

Inspired by the amazing Debbie Phillips and encouraged by Inner Mean Girl Reform School I have decided to identify and embrace a theme, My Theme, for 2011. 

This theme will guide my decisions, help ground me, move me forward and keep me inspired.  I am excited about the possibilities and have a clear, realistic vision for what I want to accomplish by December 31, 2011.

But, also, I am scared.  Scared of failure and disappointment and fearful that this will be just another one of those things that I start (with all the greatest of intentions) but do not complete.



Ironically, this is today's inspiration...
I love my Inspire Cards by melissaAnne
 www.melissaannegallery.com

So - to combat quitting, and to keep me honest and accountable...I am not going to keep my theme unwrapped - I am announcing it - outloud and proud (eek, this is scary!...but here goes...)

For me, 2011 is the year of loving myself, especially my body!

What is YOUR theme for 2011?