Great Legs

I just got back from the beautiful Hawaiian Island of Maui. It was so much fun - we went snorkeling, paddle boarding, swimming and tanning! I loved the palm trees, beach walks, pineapples, sunsets, giant sea turtles, amazing food, coral reefs, humidity... I just loved it all! Except the sunburns! I tried to include pictures that sort of summarize how great Hawaii felt. I took a lot of pictures of palm trees - something truly fascinating to a Canadian, I guess!

I just really enjoyed the laid back Hawaiian culture. They call it the spirit of aloha - aloha doesn't just mean hello and goodbye, but it embodies a belief in living a life of love and peace.

It was an incredible and restful vacation, but it also provided a lot of thinking space. Since I spent most of my time there in a bikini, I thought a great deal about my body, and I also spent a lot of time thinking about myself in general. I began really considering what it means to be "Robin," and a lot of what I was able to come up with was criticism.

I found myself really facing a lot of my self worth issues. I feel a new hyper-awareness of how un-confident I am... which is good: awareness is usually the first step in growth.

Every so often I see a picture of myself and it won't be perfect, but I think to myself "man, I've got great legs." Here's to looking for the other "great legs" that make up me.

 These are my great legs. What are yours?

ALOHA

Climb Like a Fish

I want to share my favourite quote with y'all because it really touches my heart (it's in the picture!).

I've always been someone who wants to do everything well. I would never refer to myself as a perfectionist but more of a "do-well-ist" ... aka - it doesn't have to be absolutely perfect so long as I do a good job on everything.

Those last few words are crucial... "do well on everything." This has always been my mentality. I don't know if it's a personality thing or if it's how I was raised, but it governs so much of my life (is that godly? probably not). 

I've wondered why this is so important to me. I think it's because I fear the judgement of others and because I can't handle criticism. If I do everything well, nobody can criticize me, right? 

Well, that's wrong. We need to stop judging each other, and stop judging ourselves. We all have different gifts and talents, and together we make up the beautiful body of Christ. I'm not stupid because I can't climb a tree (it's true, I can't). I'm not stupid because I suck at being outdoors and am a bad visionary.

Our abilities do not define our worth - and we need to stop believing that they do!

Flaws and All

It's officially summer - I can tell because I have no idea what day of the week it is without consulting my calendar first! Turns out it's Monday. My weekend was kind of awesome. Sunday especially was all kinds of perfection.

My ex-small-group and I were in a race in the very early morning - although I'd registered for the 10K, I ended up running the 5K. The proceeds went to the Zebra Child Protection Agency and we had a crazy fun time. I shaved 5 MINUTES off of my 5K time, and then we enjoyed Dilly bars and weird country music while cheering on the marathoners.

We then took an hour drive to a place we all love very dearly - the Charest ranch. The Charests are the nicest and most generous people I've ever met.

We spent a few hours out there; hanging out with the Charests, sunbathing and enjoying technology-free outdoorsyness (check out my sunburn on the right!) and then we played a question-answer game. One question was "if you were a present to yourself, what would you be and why?"

Immediately, my mind started racing. What do I want most? Glitter? Perfect nails? Black Toms? A Victoria's Secret gift card? As my mind filtered through the list of things on my "want" list, a clear answer popped into my head... The perfect gift for me would be self acceptance.

My self confidence has been at an all-time low recently - it's weird because my weight has also been at an all-time low, but no matter what I cannot feel satisfied with me. I'm constantly evaluating how ugly, stupid or imperfect I am and it is so draining. I need to find a way to love me - flaws and all.

So you tell me...

If you were a present to yourself, what would you be and why?

Feel Things

Hey y'all.

For those of you who don't know me, I'm a very emotional individual. I feel everything hard and in a typical day I experience a full (and intense) range of emotions. Regular day-to-day things can stir deep emotional responses in my heart - both negative and positive. I'm just a feeler. A typical ENFP.

I've just been thinking so much lately about how these displays of emotion have become a negative thing in our society. I have it nailed into my head that sharing my heart and emotions is a bad thing. I'm so tired of hearing emotionality portrayed as rationality's evil twin. I think both play an important role in today's world.

I want a society where both tenderheartedness and good sense  are valued equally. More than anything, I'd like people to respect my emotions and feelings; I want people to stop telling me to stop being myself!

Emotions are a good thing. Period.