Skip to main content

I just bought new jeans...

I am in no way sharing these personal thoughts and experiences to be compared to others. I get it. It could be worse. It could be better. I am sharing to connect with others so we can be more loving and less judgmental of ourselves and those around us. So, moving forward...


First of all, I am upset I had to buy new jeans.


Second of all, I am really upset about being upset I had to buy new jeans. Because, I recognized my flawed thinking and attribution of worth… but I still care a little...


I couldn’t wait to put on my real pants after I had my son. My body shifts and grows and shrinks in weird ways while I am pregnant, and I am able to wear my pants fairly quickly. My legs get smaller while my belly gets bigger. I put my pants on about a week after and with pride patted myself on the back, because, why? I don’t know… I thought I was special, or awesome, better than other ladies. (I am trying hard to avoid my own insecurities and shortcomings by comparing and judging.)

I also couldn’t wait to get back to the gym. I wanted to sweat, work, lift and shred every bit of baby pudge from my body. As soon as I was cleared to resume usually activities, I was on it. All I could think of was, what’s-her-name on Instagram whose baby was 10 months and she looked banging. I gotta keep up, right?


But, here I am now, buying new jeans because I need a bigger size. *sigh* I can get my current jeans on, but I have to wriggle, squeeze, and suck in while I button them up. And, after -like- 7.5 minutes I want to take them off.


I want to walk around with a marquee hanging over my head flashing this message on repeat, “I am trying. Please, don’t judge me.” Why? Because, I care what the world says. I want to appear to have no struggles and live a flawless life. I am chasing the world’s definition of perfection. I am chasing and chasing and chasing, and I am not catching anything but a few hollow comments encouraging me to keep chasing…


I look in the mirror and see all these things I want to change. I see love handles, stretch marks, dimply thighs, and saggy boobs. What a shame? Do I have no faith in my friends and family to be understanding and still love me. Like, all I have to offer this world is what I look like. There is actually nothing in my life that requires me to look any different than I do.

I think about the book, “You are Special” by Max Lucado. It’s my favorite. I recognize I want to be the wemmick who is unstickable. The stickers just don’t stay. She doesn’t need the stars of others, and consequently the dots don’t stick either. She knows where her worth lies, and she shares that message with others. I truly want to be her. I pray to be her. But, in order for that to happen I am going to have to stop divvying out stars and dots to others in order to make myself feel better. Put, the measuring stick down, Saige.


So, I bought new jeans… and it’s okay. I don’t care like I did. I actually feel much lighter.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Fence sitter....

I still find myself in this "I'm not really sure about this" state of mind after watching Missrepresentation. Half of me is ready to go on this crusade, and let the world know. The other half of me is like - well whatever, I'll just make sure I don't think like that anymore. Fortunately, for me and others, we have such a powerful resources in finding truth. I am on a personal quest, to find truth in the jumble of information going around in my head. There have been very few times in my life where my personal thinking has been challenged to such an extent.  I also feel that there is a very specific dilemma added to LDS women. I am not the only one who has had these thoughts and concerns? Why am I getting a degree? What are my motivations? If these have never been questions in your mind girls... Ask them. Challenge your motivations. Make sure you are doing what you want to do. I am in no way becoming a fanatical feminist. I am not promoting that every women sh...

#notbuyingit

The documentary we are watching in class is fantastic. I truly believe that women are misrepresented in media and in life. I, however, find myself having a hard time placing myself somewhere to stand on this spectrum. What is it I believe a women should/could/ought to do? I went on the missreprestation website. Pretty cool. They have a clever campaign of #notbuyingit. They encourage people to, when they see adds that are straight up wrong, label it with the hashtag. I really like this, because now it is a thought. Every time I see something of women in the media, and I am like "Hey, that's not real." I can label it. Not only for everyone, but mostly for myself. I find that I am very much wrapped up in what I look like. I have completely bought into the idea that I am only as powerful as I am good looking. I remember talking to my dad about future careers. He asked me what my dream job would be. I said, "a Sports Analyst." He told me I should go for it. I r...

Talk Negative to Me

“You are totally out of your league. You gotta leave, now!” This is what was playing in my head as soon as I watched the other ladies hit. I had agreed to go play volleyball with my friend. Neither of us knew what we were going to find when we got to Bear Lake gym. Well, we found players - like - playa players. The voice just continued playing over and over as my body got tight, my heart beat fast, and I began to squirm inside. “You aren’t good enough. Did you see that set? You can’t set like that. Wowzer. That was an insane angle. You can’t hit like that. They must have all played college, for sure. You didn’t even play in high school. Oh, they are using all that fancy volleyball lingo. Do you even know what she just said?” Panic. Now, lucky for me, I was well into my current reading selection, a sports psychology book. And, fortunately I had just finished the chapter on negative self talk right before I left for this sporting excursion. In “This is Your Brain on ...