Random musings and activities of a 30 something mom, potential sprint triathlete, vegetarian, dog and cat owner, and a evolving urban homesteader just trying to do the right thing in life for my daughter and the world around us. If the blog seems random, it's because life is and hits us all at 100mph.
Wednesday, March 04, 2009

PostHeaderIcon Gauging Self-Worth Through Accomplishments (or titled: Don't let the media define you)


Back on February 6th, Dr Boston sent this to me, and there was a convo today with a girlfriend that made me feel like posting this for her. I hope others enjoy it as well.
“If I were feeling a little more lawless, I’d gather all the copies of Cosmo and Seventeen, douse them in kerosene, and strike a match. I’d throw in reams of print ads from Calvin Klein and watch with delight as Kate Moss’ stick-thin image was reduced to carbon.

I’d add copies of Shape and Runner’s World until the flames reached toward the heavens, and then I’d crank call the editorial desk at Muscle and Fitness until they stopped publishing pictures of women on steroids.

I’d get the master tapes of America ’s Next Top Model and dub over them with “Nasty Girls”, broadcasting the results on every television stat ion in America . I’d skywrite “CrossFit.com” across the Boston skyline, and gently admonish the hoards of long distance runners trotting along the Charles River —with a bullhorn.

I’d take every woman with mass media-induced ideals of beauty, and I’d show them what it really means to be beautiful. Beautiful women are strong and powerful. They are athletes, capable of every feat under the sun. They have muscles, borne of hard work and sweat. They gauge their self-worth through accomplishments, not by the numbers on the bathroom scale. They understand that muscle weighs more than fat, and they love the fact that designer jeans don’t fit over their well-developed quads. They know that high repetitions using light weights is a path to mediocrity, and “toning” is a complete and utter myth.

They refuse to succumb to the marketers that prey on insecurity, leaving the pre-packaged diet dinners and fat-burning pills on the shelf to pass their expiration date. Beautiful women train with intensity. The derive self-image from the quality of their work and their ability to excel. They don’t wear makeup to the gym, and they wouldn’t be caught dead with a vinyl pink dumbbell. They move iron, they do pull-ups, they jump, sprint, punch, and kick, and they use the elliptical20machine—as a place to hang their jump rope. They spend their weekends in sport, climbing walls, winning races, and running rivers. They laugh as they sprint circles around the unschooled, turning the image-obsessed into bench warmers.

Beautiful women don’t care if they’re soaked in sweat and covered in dirt, if their nails are chipped or their hair out of place. They care only about quality of life. Beautiful women are happy, healthy, and strong, and they’re right there beside me, tossing conventional beauty on the ever-growing flames of what used to be.

Be beautiful.
3 times this past week, someone has used the word "athlete" when talking to me. Honestly, I never thought of myself as an athlete, because I don't compete like I used to, I'm a newb to the triathlon scene, and I certainly don't look like the people I consider athletes. When I reread this article, I am reminded that those 3 people are right... I am an athlete and am beautiful because I am.

8 comments:

Allison Zwingenberger said...

Great post! You are absolutely right, the definition of athlete comes from within. Your dedication and attitude are so much more important than how you look or how high your level of competition is. I was thinking of this a few weeks ago when I wrote a blog post about the same topic (http://triallthings.com/174/you-are-a-female-athlete/). I suddenly realized I was an athlete. Awesome!

Jen said...

your blog post really hit me with some truths and I can totally relate to what you wrote.

Women in general don't give themselves enough credit.

Thanks for sharing :)

Unknown said...

Great post. I'll have to show this to my wife... -DS

Jen said...

Hope she loves it ;)

Unknown said...

Great blog

Jen said...

Thanks Tre :) I wish I could take credit for the motivation in the blog, but I can't stop passing these words onto others!

mark said...

the first part reminds me of a Baz Lurman lyric from the song "Sunscreen"

"don't read beauty magazines. They will only make you feel ugly."

Jen said...

I like that quote! I might steal that for future use...

*off to look up Baz Lurman*

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Quotes as I come across them......

“Pain is temporary. It may last a minute, an hour, a day, or a year, but eventually it will subside and something else will take its place. If I quit, however, it last forever.” ~~~Lance Armstrong

"The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort and convenience, but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy." ~~~ Martin Luther King, Jr.

"I like running because it's a challenge. If you run hard, there's the pain----and you've got to work your way through the pain. You know, lately it seems all you hear is 'Don't overdo it' and 'Don't push yourself.' Well, I think that's a lot of bull. If you push the human body, it will respond." ~~~Bob Clarke, Philadelphia Flyers general manager, NHL Hall of Famer. (Will-Weber's "Voices From the Midpack" chapter.)

The reason most people never reach their goals is that they don’t define them, or ever seriously consider them as believable or achievable. Winners can tell you where they are going, what they plan to do along the way, and who will be sharing the adventure with them.~~~Denis Watley

Perhaps the most valuable result of all education is the ability to make yourself do the thing you have to do, when it ought to be done, whether you like it or not; it is the first lesson that ought to be learned; and however early a man's training begins, it is probably the last lesson that he learns thoroughly. ~~~Thomas H. Huxley (1825 - 1895)

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