Hey Friend,
Today’s Touchstone Training is short and sweet. Here it is…
Skinny is not the objective!
See you next time.
Ok, just kidding. I’m still here. Let’s chew on this idea for a minute.
I never liked the word skinny. Probably because I believed there was no chance in hell I could ever become "skinny."
Skinny was for super-models. Skinny was for stray dogs. Skinny was for my fat-phobic father.
Skinny was never attainable to me.
Except once.
For a few short months in high school (when I thought my whole future depended on me getting skinny), I lived on rice cakes, cottage cheese, and diet soda.
I did get skinny. But I was miserable and my 5-minutes of totally-unsustainable-skinny-fame was followed by years of waging war with my body and subsequently, feeling like a disappointment to myself.
* * * * *
Here’s something to consider.
Skinny (as a desired outcome) has an inverse relationship with happiness.
It looks something like this...
The more time and energy we spend obsessing about getting skinny, the less joy and happiness we have in our lives.
And conversely, the less we pursue skinniness as a measure of accomplishment, the more happiness we experience.
Think of it this way. We’re all born with certain genetic factors that shape how we look (literally). This includes things like our natural hair color, our height, and yes, even our body shape.
Skinny is one particular shape. One of many. Most of us didn’t get the skinny genes. And that’s ok.
Pursuing skinny is like wishing your dog was a cat. Futile, right?
When we buy into the social constructs about certain body types being more attractive or “better”, we set ourselves up for trouble. Trying to attain unrealistic goals fuels our habits of negative self-talk, feeling disappointed with ourselves, and constantly comparing our lives to others.
When we do that, there is little room left for happiness.
So, the sooner we let go of the idea of becoming skinny, the happier we’ll be.
* * * * *
Two questions for you…
How would your life change if you stopped striving for skinny, and instead, focused on reaching a healthy, comfortable weight?
Who would you be if one of your most important goals in life was simply to be happy?
Something to think about.
Love you,
