I can’t even count the number of times someone has mentioned their own body in a negative way in front of me the last 6 months.
And heck, I don’t blame them. Diet culture is all around us every day. Quite often even disguised as ‘health.’ Christy Harrison’s book The Wellness Myth has taught me how to question information more.
With the huge amount of information, we face on a day-to-day basis. How do we get curious and learn how to ask the right questions? She interviewed Casey Gueren on her podcast. Casey is an award-winning health journalist and author of the book. “It’s Probably Nothing”, she explains how critical thinking needs to be our friend in the information age.
I remember going to a parenting talk when my kids were little. The speaker asked us to think about what skills our kids would need in our future. She asked us to think about how can we future-proof our kids? I remember when I was in elementary school, a lot of the focus was on remembering information, studying to remember. Things have changed with the rise of technology, today we can ask our devices almost anything through google or watching videos on YouTube. So together with critical thinking and a curious mind (to sort through all the mis and dis-information out there on health fads).
what else do we need to future proof our kids?
A strong sense of self-worth.
Self-worth is really understanding that you are enough right now. You are enough! Your body is enough, right now as is. Self-esteem focuses more on what you good at? Where do you excel? What do you enjoy? In parenting I like the idea of focusing more on what our kids are good at and enjoy rather than constantly playing catch up.
One of the reasons I love what I do, comes in reminding moms that their worth is not tied to their performance. That they do not need to earn rest. That they have “permission” to prioritize their needs. Self-care does not make us selfish.
Alison Lumbatis (Get your pretty on) says ‘guilt is the no one thing holding is back as moms and that guilt should be reserved for things that are immoral or illegal”. I love that! I have followed Alison for ages, and I was super excited when she launched her new podcast…
She says “You deserve to dress the body you have now.” And I so agree. Clothes are supposed to fit our body and not the other way round. And while your self-esteem is boosted when you feel good. Your worth is something that is always there. It is taking the time to be grateful for what you have. It is speaking to yourself kindly and giving yourself and your body grace.
I believe that criticism really impacts our self-worth. So how do we prove our self-worth while still accepting feedback. Brene Brown says
1. We need to look into who we take advice from.
2. The way we communicate matters.
Isn’t it time you found your tribe? A group of non-judgemental moms just like you?
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Mich x