Over the last few months, I have changed. Mentally, emotionally, physically. I wrote awhile ago about
the criticism I've received over my appearance. It hurt. And it made me feel isolated and unable to share my pride and excitement over the results I've seen. I'm pretty much over it now.
And that last little smidge of hurt and self-conciousness that remained has been erased. One afternoon, in just a few minutes spent with a best friend and her camera, any doubt or embarrassment I felt about myself VANISHED.
I still am far from perfect. I have stretch marks and flab, wrinkles and gray hairs.
But the woman you see in these pictures is a woman who is comfortable in her body. Who knows what it is capable of and is eager to push it even further. Who appreciates what she's got and how she got there. Who recognizes that the criticisms hurled at her are based in jealousy and insecurity.
Whether anyone else sees those things when they look at me, I don't know. I actually don't care. All that matters is that I see them. And what a gift it is that I finally do.
