Self Love - To thine own self be true.
Every time I take another turn around the sun, I remind myself the importance of self love and appreciation.
Appreciation for the body I was given. It has served me well through all it's transformations. Even when I have taken it for granted and not treated it with the respect I should have.
It has seen been subjected to pain and injury, excessive weight and unhealthy thinness, times of strength and of weakness, and the joy of children, both born and lost.
As an "early bloomer", it received the unwanted passing gropes of immature adolescent boys, that thought it was acceptable to freely shame and embarrass a young girl for a quick thrill, touch or dare.
It has endured the unwanted advances of lecherous old men, who thought it was acceptable to accost girls and young women for their own pleasure.
Through the awkward stages of embarrassing moments and self-doubt, pubescent angst and emerging womanhood, it has stood by me, a constant sentinel of support.
It has seen me through hard work, pushing limits that most women do not attempt, and times of ease when I gave myself permission to relax and do nothing more than to put up my feet.
Over time, I have learned to enjoy the freedom of the sensual pleasures it has afforded me and my partners, and learned to love it all the more.
But mostly, I have learned to love it, and myself, for all the things that it has given me, regardless of what stage it is in or what I see in the mirror. I see the aging body of a life well lived, and the ability to be more than just the vessel of anyone else's wants and desires but my own.
As I finish this decade of my life, I embrace a new era of finding comfort in one's own skin. Albeit hard won, the resiliency, strength, courage, fortitude and wisdom I've grown into, is more beautiful than anything that can be reflected in a mirror.
