So many of us look in the mirror and see nothing but flaws. We see crow’s feet or flat hair or flabby upper arms or thunderthighs or yellow teeth. We may even see all of those things simultaneously and feel positively oppressed by our genetic lot in life. But we rarely look in the mirror and feel grateful for all the amazing gifts our bodies give us. We take for granted the feats of physicality undertaken by our amazing bodies every single day.
And every body out there is good at things.
In the interest of acknowledgment and gratitude, try thinking of the five things your body does best. Five things you are proud that you can physically accomplish, five things that make you feel present in your own lovely, womanly bod.
Here are mine:
1. My body can do anything that requires strong leg muscles: Tae Kwon Do, endless stairs, biking, hiking, and walking.
2. My body fills out a pencil skirt in the most spectacular way.
3. My body is so flexible, I make everyone else in the stretching room at the gym jealous. I can feel their envy coming off them in waves, I swear.
4. My body is extremely resilient: I’ve never been sick for more than 4 days in my life.
5. My body can play badminton like nobody’s business. Come on over! We’ll set up the net in the backyard and I will SCHOOL YO ASS.
What does your body do best?
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{ 27 comments… read them below or add one }
Isn’t strength FUN? Okay, mine:
1. My body hefts the weights. It’s fun to see the muscular guys at the gym do a double-take at what I can handle on the machines.
2. My skin that broke out miserably throughout my teens turns out to be wrinkle-resistant; women 10 years younger have crowsfeet and I don’t.
3. My body studied hard on how to dominate a room.
4. My fingers never forget how to play the piano, no matter how many years I go without practicing.
5. My body never needs fakes to have long, elegant fingernails.
Getting to 3 seemed impossible, and then I didn’t want to stop.
Lord, I love this one! And what great natural skills you have.
1. I can walk miles a day and I love seeing the world while I do it.
2. I am naturally curvy and symmetrical. Gain or lose I keep that general shape!
3. I have very nice legs, if I do say so myself. And I’m thrilled I take the time to appreciate them!
4. I am rather youthful-looking thanks to great Puerto Rican anti-wrinkle genes.
5. I managed to grow a human being, pop her out and now she’s a real person with her own great abilities. I am pretty proud of that.
Have to think this one thoroughly and build it up to five… How should I start? Well, it seems physical is in order with ya’ll.
1. My body is constructed in a Wolverine-ish way – I have a very resistant bone structure and the little muscular mass I own carries a world of strength within.
2. My construction is naturally thin and I’m grateful for that because I grew used to it and couldn’t be in other ways.
3. I get back in shape in the blink of an eye after a pregnancy which is a true wonder, given I am an active woman and I adoooore children (would like to have as many as possible
, I know, it sounds crazy!).
4. I adapt real fast to any given situation (body and mind) and bear a close communication between my body and my mind.
5. (oh, finally!
) I too am very flexible!
Too bad I can’t badminton you to waste, I’m a tennis lady so I have to decline that school thing you were talking about!
1. My body is also incredibly (jealousy inducingly) flexible. Even when I get out of shape – it only takes a few days of stretching to get the flexibility back.
2. My body is naturally slow (old people pass me when I run) but makes up for it in endurance. I’m the last one in the group to demand a break from an activity.
3. I have great eyebrows. I can pluck them myself and look like like I just emerged from an expensive salon.
4. Since having children, I have gone from having little upper body strength to having the potential to join a high school wrestling team and lead them to the state championship.
5. My body rewards my faster paced working mother lifestyle with a much faster metabolism no matter what I eat (and regardless of the fact that going to the gym has become a thing of the past).
**I love this post. I often look at the hereditary chub next to my knees and remind myself that I’m lucky to have legs that work. I really rely on my legs to get me around you know…
Hmmm, let’s see:
1. My legs are super strong from years of aerobics and long-distance running.
2. My body can multitask like nobody’d business–ever try using the washroom in a cafe with a nursing infant in arms?
3. My body is very comfortable standing, talking, or moving in front of large groups of people.
4. My body is an awesome dancer.
5. My body manages to be graceful, even when it’s tripping over cords and wires (sometimes while standing in front of those large groups of people!).
shall i try also?
1. flat stomach that makes me look like I’ve been working out hard
2. my bod can do yoga well
3. my finger nails look like hand model nails
can’t think of any more.. damn.
1. I love my feet. I really think I could be a feet model, if someone gave me the chance. Even my boyfriend comments on them being perfect and I never gat tired of hearing it.
2. Curves. Everywhere. I have boobs, I have hips and a small waist in between to balance it off.
3. I felt self-conscious of my full lips while growing up, but now everyone envies them. And I don’t even need lipstick. They’re naturally pinkish-red all the time!
4. I never paint my nails. And because of that – and my genes I suppose – they are super strong and naturally pink with white tips,as they never get yellowish. French manicure au naturel!
5. I have another part of me that I feel is beautiful and I get compliments about, but it would be kinda inappropriate to mention it here. Sorry, if that makes you blush, but it’s true!
What a great reminder to look at the positives!
1. My body has big, muscular thighs that have been able to leg press upwards of 250lbs–repeatedly. Much to the jealousy of all the males in my gym class.
2. My body allows me to be flexible and do stretches and such without a lot of argument!
3. My hands may be small and “farmer-like”, but they’re incredibly strong, despite they’re weather worn appearance.
4. My stomach requires a lot of work to keep it flat, but as a result, my body has rewarded me with immensely strong muscles in my abs. Even my gynecologist marveled at how firm everything is!
5. My body can take a lot of hits and physical pain before letting me know. I’ve found massive bruises from places I’ve whacked myself (I’m the world’s biggest klutz!) that I never ever felt. Like the 5″ bruise I had on my leg last summer… no clue how it got there!
Hi sal-great post, here goes
1.A flat stomach without working out for it.
2. No droopy boobs!
3. I like my height-5 foot 7.5 inches.
4. I like my skin complexion-very rarely get spots.
5. I am quite fit without working out, as I have a manual job, on my feet at work all the time!!
Hurrah, a really great inspiring post!!
This is a brilliant idea.
1. My body can walk all day in heels, without making me look like a fool by the end.
2. My shape is very easy to tailor to. Not easy to shop for, but very easy to tailor to.
3. My muscles aren’t much practical use, but I can do pilates like nobody’s business and I’m great in a bar fight.
4. The skin on my face is very low-maintenance.
5. My body responds well to exercise.
I feel so much better now!
Hmmmm.
1. I can go braless.
2. I’m a pretty average size, so most things fit me off the rack.
3. I can run, Spin, lift weights, and wrestle my husband in the living room.
4. I have good genetics from my mother, so I don’t have many wrinkles.
5. I can do anything I want to do.
I like this one, Sal. what a great way to engage your readers.
i did on my blog cause this was such a good idea!
here’s mine though:
1 – My hands are one of my favorite features – even with countless scars and arthritic everything – each part of them tells a story. They have strength to give great back rubs, and softness to comfort a friend, a child, a stranger. I love the motions of my muscles moving on the backs of my hands – I think it’s beautiful. They have memory – these hands will never forget how to hold a camera and adjust the aperture, how to spool film and develop it, how to burn and dodge in parts of prints that would otherwise remain a mystery.
2 – I have ridiculously strong legs. If it wasn’t so hard on my knees, I would be able to leg press the max at the gym I was going to, so instead I go with half the weight and twice the reps. They have the endurance to carry me through a 5K in winter, in snow and ice, up and down hills, which is not easily accomplished when you have Rheumatoid Arthritis.
3 – My stride is long. Whether relaxed and enjoying a walk in the autumn, or hurrying at work, I always feel like my walk is confident and says that I know what I’m doing and where I’m going (even when that’s not necessarily true).
4 – Curves and softness that make me undeniably feminine. It took years but I’m finally embracing that, and feeling more and more comfortable in my own skin. This makes me feel more secure in any kind of situation.
5 – An extremely expressive face – sometimes it seems made of elastic. A raised eyebrow, a smirk, or god’s gift to the world, a smile….every part of those is definitely me.
Hurrah! You girls are too awesome. I was worried this might verge on the supercheeze, but clearly not! Give me MORE! More amazing things our bodies can do!
Sal,
I took a badminton class in college. I accept your challenge
OOOOOOOH, BRING IT, KNITTYPANTS.
I really share point 1 and 3 with you! Sometimes it would seem that I’m all rubber, I bend everywhere and anyhow:)
Another good thing is that even though I look quite strong and “athletic” in some clothes I can look supergirly in others, so I guess my body is quite umm, versatile or something…
Fab idea
1. i have very youthful genes, body and mind, some might say immature!
2. Can swim like a fish.
3. Can run for miles – 13 and bit to be exact.
4. good figure even after children
5. my body loves clothes!
What a cool idea! I’m a big fan of my body, always have been, and I like the way it keeps changing and showing me new things it can do.
1. My eyebrows are pointed like a 1940s femme fatale and I can arch one at a time for maximum effect.
2. I too can run for miles with great endurance and joy. That’s down to my sturdy construction and the fact that I have a natural “lightness”.
3. I feel confident and alive in the ocean and can bodysurf, play and surf even in kind of big waves because my body knows how to ride the rhythms of the swell.
4. My feet are like small wide flippers and that helps me in the surf, and on the road. They never get tired or sore.
5. I can grow hair and nails like nobody’s business!
And I can keep going for hours here – I’m thinking my self esteem is pretty good!
i’m late leaving work so i can’t do my five but what a beautiful post. i own and operate a cosmetic studio and every day women come in wanting to fill this, cover that, hide all of it…. women are beautiful. and you are right… we put our bodies through so much we should appreciate ALL they do for us. wonderful blog. i added you to my blogs i adore please check mine out at rltroxell.blogspot.com have a lovely day
Sal, this is a brilliant idea!
1. I can will my body to run many miles. And my body always feels better afterward, even on days when I dread putting on my trainers.
2. Tiny ankles.
3. When I put on weight, I retain my hourglass figure, yay. (Thanks, Mom!)
4. Strong hands. My husband cannot beat me at thumb-o-war.
5. Lots and lots and lots of soft, fair skin. Who needs a tan (and the aging that comes with it)?
6. Super bonus! I’m just gonna say it: nice boobs.
I apologize for not throwing in all five but I know the BEST thing my body does:
shake it on the dance floor!
This is the best comment read ever.
1. I like my long everything, legs and ape arms and all!
2. I have no breasts but my ass makes up for it
3. My lips are naturally full
4. Although my Irish skin has tortured me for years, it has aged very well
5. I have a Cindy Crawford mole in the exact same spot – and I have to thank Cindy for making it sexy for me just in time for my 20′s.
Love your blog, awesome inspiring post!
1. I am 6 foot tall which gives you instant air of respectability and it’s great for reaching things.
2. I’m extremely sure-footed. As in I can run/walk/jump on any surface be it a field of grass or lava. The non fluid kind
3. My body can control a 1000+ lb horse.
4. My body can walk for hours and hours
5. My eyes can see, my ears can hear and my nose can smell.
1. My skin is super-super stretchy! I have a huge preggie bump at the moment and not a stretch mark in sight.
2. I have a great metabolism which means I can eat as much as I want, never work out and not gain weight.
3. If I DO work out though, it only takes me a teeny while to gain awesome tone and muscles – in three days I can go from saggy-baggy to rock hard butt.
4. I have back dimples. I like my back dimples.
5. When my joints aren’t all achy and my stomach swollen to stupendous proportions I too am very flexible. If I ever need to run away with the circus I could probably fit into my own suitcase…
1. My eyes are pretty cool. They change colour if I’m happy or sad
2. I’m also stupidly flexible
3. My skin is pretty good when it’s behaving it’s self
4. As is my hair
5. I know I complain about my height but I’m actually pretty happy to be tall
I’ve just learnt more about my fellow bloggers than I have in 12 months of blogging…Lady O best watch her back cos Lady S is moving to town.
Love this post!
1) It gave me a beautiful son even when the Drs said it would not happen without thier assistance!
2) I have always had fair & soft skin.
3) I have muscular legs (which is why I have probs finding boots for over my calfs)
4) I have attractive feet!
5) I have long, elegant fingers.