Make Health the New Object of the Game

Make no mistake, women and girls are finding it difficult, often times impossible to break through the barriers of self-limitation, fear and shame. Females have learned from each previous generation that the suppression of feelings, desires and dreams is necessary to make it in the male-dominated world. The majority of today’s women have learned from their Grandmothers, Mothers, Fathers, advertising and the media that women are in-fact second-class citizens born to be objectified. Women fall prey to several myths and thus seek to cope by developing dangerous patterns of behavior; eating disorders to attain the “thinness body ideal” for example.

Women lead lives of multiple roles (daughter, wife, mother, friend, co-worker, etc.) and when given the new windows of opportunity for advancement in the realm of sports, careers, politics, etc., the overwhelming list of what is possible to achieve seems to outweigh the need for rest, positive relationships and realistic goal setting. Self-worth, self-respect, self-love and self-esteem are lacking and are sending the world’s women into spirals of depression, anxiety and disordered eating patterns. Our realistic perceptions of what is beautiful and what is healthy in regards to body weight and shape have been grossly distorted by the media.

Our culture has placed an unusually high value on external beauty placing unnecessary pressure on females (males are also starting to come under attack). Teaching young people (males and females) about how to cope with stress, how to maintain a healthy body and how to treat not only others, but our own selves with respect. If these steps in the right direction are taken, the world will be a happier, healthier place.

Food & Mood

From the moment we are born into the world as females we battle low self-esteem, stereotypes and the overwhelming world view that as women and girls we just aren’t good enough. Despite the best efforts of our friends and family who might love us unconditionally, negative thoughts and attitudes about body image daily trip us up as if we were tip-toeing over land mines. Playing duck and cover from advertising ads that play up our insecurities and target our lack of confidence then blow it up like hand-grenades is all out warfare for our identity.

Magazines and television programs constantly feed us unrealistic versions of what women and girls should be: skinny, blonde, large breasts, and perfectly happy being objectified and starving. The fact is, women and girls are not perfectly happy, and what they are starving from is a lack of empowerment, guide to proper nutrition and a healthy self-esteem that links to their own core beliefs, not what others think they should believe about themselves.

Too many cases of female depression, anxiety and disordered eating are related to body image and weight. Women and girls are dissatisfied with themselves, their bodies in particular and why? Would they be dissatisfied if normal body shape, color and personality were fairly portrayed in the media and in our own homes?

The truth is that the world is not fair, but we can be to ourselves. The world may take its sweet time in electing female world leaders, or distributing equal pay for equal work, but in the meantime it is the responsibility of all women to encourage, support and foster in one another positive beliefs in our own self-worth regardless of our size, shape, color or class. Demand to not be demeaned, controlled or dominated by exploitative advertising that is completely harmful.

Love is the Answer

From the poetic genius of Ella Wheeler Wilcox (1850 - 1919)

Are you Loving Enough?

Are you loving enough? There is some one dear,
Some one you hold as the dearest of all
In the holiest shrine of your heart.

Are you making it known? Is the truth of it clear
To the one you love? If death's quick call
Should suddenly tear you apart,
Leaving no time for a long farewell,
Would you feel you had nothing to tell-
Nothing you wished you had said before
The closing of that dark door?

Are you loving enough? The swift years fly-
Oh, faster and faster they hurry away,
And each one carries its dead.
The good deed left for the by and by,
The word to be uttered another day,
May never be done or said.
Let the love word sound in the listening ear,
Nor wait to speak it above a bier.
Oh the time for telling your love is brief,
But long, long, long is the time for grief.
Are you loving enough?

This includes ourselves!!! Love is not just reserved for honeymooning couples or romantic movies. Love is not only reflected in hugs and kisses.......but in the spirit of your actions......of your service to others.....in the respect and pride you show in the way you play your sport, carry out the duties of your job, help a stranger, show your forgiveness instead of holding a grudge, hustle with the heart of a champion even if you're down 20 - 0..........how often do we give up and leave the loving up to someone else????

Are we giving 100% of ourselves to our jobs??? Other people??? No time to take proper care of our mental, physical and spiritual needs???? When was the last time you said "I love you" to yourself???? When was the last time we said "I love you" to someone else and meant it with deep affection - not just repeating the words as a tired mantra.....something we HAVE to say as a means to an end......."say I love you....or else......no present/gift/love/touch/etc...........or else, I won't reciprocate my love for you either........"

What a scary, dangerous and exhausting way to live our lives; constantly dangling love from ourselves and others like a carrot that can be yanked away at any time as punishment......as if for some reason anyone is undeserving of being loved.

Who in your life has propelled you to love unconditionally???

How many of us live by the golden rule, "Do unto others as you would have done unto you?".......That rule doesn't always work out due to the fact that we do not always live up to treating ourselves with great love, patience or kindness......

Love as a higher power loves you......

If you believe in GOD....or
By whatever name you call your higher power......
That is how we should try to love ourselves and others.....
With all our imperfections,
The Creator loves us and gives us each new day as a way to love more even when we dissapoint, binge, forget to say "Thank You" for our gifts, talents and blessings...each day is still a new day and we are LOVED no less than the day we were created........ we are constantly invited, encouraged, and hard pressed to live more passionately taking care of ourselves and others........

WALK WITH LOVE! RUN WITH LOVE! PLAY WITH LOVE! ARGUE WITH LOVE! FORGIVE WITH LOVE! WORK WITH LOVE! SEE WITH LOVE! HEAR WITH LOVE! SMELL WITH LOVE! HEAR WITH LOVE! (Just checking....see if you're listening....) TASTE WITH LOVE! SUFFER WITH LOVE! APOLOGIZE WITH LOVE! UNDERSTAND WITH LOVE! DO THE DISHES WITH LOVE! LAUNDRY WITH LOVE! BABYSIT WITH LOVE! LUNGES WITH LOVE! JURY DUTY WITH LOVE! PAY BILLS WITH LOVE (AT LEAST YOU ARE ALIVE TO RECEIVE THEM.......)! SHOP WITH LOVE (NOT RETAIL THERAPY....BUT ENJOY LIVING WITH WHAT YOU NEED....NOT NECESSARILY WITH ALL OF YOUR WANTS...... for example: I WANT TO WIN THE LOTTO AND BUY 10 SOFTBALL BATS......BUT I DON'T NEED TO WIN THE LOTTO TO BE HAPPY.....AND I ONLY NEED ONE SOFTBALL BAT.....I CAN ONLY SWING ONE SOFTBALL BAT AT A TIME.....I ONLY NEED ONE BAT TO HIT A HOMERUN......I REALIZE THAT THE POWER DOES NOT LIE IN THE BAT....BUT IN MY ABILITY TO SWING IT)!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Love is complex. But love is the answer.

LOVE TODAY!!! *

That means RIGHT NOW!
Not "right now later", "RIGHT NOW RIGHT NOW!"

;)

The Most Important Day is Today

Just a few of us gathering in the living room to celebrate family and the New Year -

I am Blessed to have such a large and supportive net to help me with the saying,

"Leap and the net will appear."

For those of you with family that you can count on one hand, email me and I will share.....

SHINE IN '09!!! (My personal mantra that I hope everyone adopts)

So my blogging voice has been quiet since New Year's Eve 2008.....

2009 greeting us all with full calendars, responsibilities, anxiety, love, loss, hope, fear, rain, snow, but always with the promise of sunshine; a sunshine that we don't always believe will warm our hearts, but instead, burn.....hopefully you're getting you're three hugs per day, feel loved, and take at least one hour per day to celebrate yourself!!

I was tired, were you?

I replaced my New Year's resolution before the confetti was picked up, and was seemingly okay with, "I'll get to it tomorrow..." So I didn't drink more water than coffee.....and I didn't get more sleep.......and I didn't want to trust the new adventures that lay ahead of me.....I was determined to be stuck in 2008 - waiting for those things I left undone to resolve themselves......nervously letting my inner fire be a flicker instead of an inferno; insisting that my soul sleep, instead of wake up with eyes wide open to see....SEE MORE than what I was allowing myself to see.....

BE MORE than what I was allowing myself to be....

It is February and it has well been advertised and marketed as the month of LOVE......hearts everywhere as a symbol.....

The strongest muscle in our body is the heart.

The leading cause of death for women is heart disease.

The heart represents many things; love, joy, family, St. Valentine's Day, and life itself.

Our hearts never attack us, we attack our hearts.

When we shut our hearts we are basically shutting off the flow of life to our hearts.

Let us drop the judgements and rejoice in love when we see it.

During this New Year I have definitely seen it and have been lucky enough to receive it.

I would like to thank the senior class of Pomona Catholic Girls High School, both of 2008 (The Angelics) and of 2009 (The Believers) who helped me to dream big dreams once again and to love even when it is difficult.

I would like to thank my Beautiful And Talented Sista's of the Boys And Girls Club of the San Gorgonio Pass Area......my gorgeous and gifted girls at Nicolet Middle School - YOU ROCK! and the world is blessed to have you shining and radiating your creative and energetic brilliance to make us all better!

To the Beaumont Woman's Club who will be celebrating their GRAND RE-OPENING this Saturday at their newly renovated clubhouse with a PINK TEA PARTY and BAKE SALE - I am in awe of you!! Your love and friendship is comforting, rewarding and timeless!

The thank yous can go on and on......for some reason I feel very much like I've been given an Oscar or some sort of prestigious award for which a thank you speech is necessary.....

But then again, aren't we all????

Aren't we all given a great, shining, coveted award every day????

The gift of life!

The gift of being able to live each day.....to make a difference in the lives of others.....to research and discover who we are and what we are born for.....the fabulous gift of being able to become worthy of a story.....

Our feelings die with us, but our choices live on for all eternity!!!

February gave me hearts. Thank you Valentine.

February gave me snow. Thank you Pomona Catholic High School and Big Bear, Ca.!

February gave me life. Thank you Momma and Papa.......so very much......

Tomorrow I will be 29 years old, and as my Papa said when I called him from Big Bear last week while gazing at the 15 feet of newly fallen magical-mystical-MACmakeuplooking-sparkling snow for the first time in my life,

"Wow - you've seen things! Now tell the girls what you've seen!"

So girls -

I have seen women, real women, living as examples of strength....living, loving, laughing, dreaming and BEING.....

BELIEVING in ourselves......

BELIEVING in our dreams.....

BELIEVING in our power to positively change the world......

I HAVE SEEN......AND I BELIEVE!!!

I will go fill up my water bottle now.......with water......=)

Big Hugs,

Natalie