Ready for Summer
Summer is great, right?
It’s officially summer. The sun is out, and it is hot.
We’ve been waiting all year for it. It changes how we live. We’re outside more. We feel we have more time because the days last longer. Our moods can be lifted, people are friendlier, there are more smiles and greetings with strangers when you walk by. And there is ice cream.
Life is good.
But, it’s not for everyone…
Until recently, although summer made me feel good, it also filled me with a bit of dread. This was for two reasons.
Firstly, I was never “ready for summer”. I hadn’t been on a diet or worked hard at the gym in preparation, or had my nails done, or had my legs waxed, or a spray tan, or done anything else I had been fed I should have done to “be ready”.
Secondly, summer made me feel exposed. So, I always wore a long skirt or a dress. They made me feel more covered, more confident and happier that no one is seeing and critiquing what is underneath.
Essentially, I was not “ready for summer”, I was covered and, if I’m honest, a bit too sweaty.
I believed there was a certain way to be, and I believed that I was different to how I should be. The result was that I was very conscious of my body and what I was wearing. These thoughts were ever present throughout summer and would remain until I could find the sanctuary of the more forgiving clothes of winter.
Make a change.
Now, I truly understand uniqueness.
I truly understand and appreciate to my very core that everybody has a different body. Everybody uses it in their own way. Every body contributes to making everybody who they are. Everybody has a right to wear what they want without anxiety. Everybody is summer ready, right now.
Changing from seeing myself from being different to being unique has completely altered the way I think about my body all year round, but especially in summer.
I am ready for summer and I’m wearing shorts.
I’ve not been on a diet, or been to the gym, or had my nails or legs done. But I’m ready.
I’m going to wear shorts without anxiety and not sweat so much. I’m going to eat ice cream and say a happy summer hello to anyone that makes eye contact with me, especially those in shorts 😉.
Hope you do too.
You are Unique & Loved.
Your body is too.
