Wednesday, April 8, 2009

Questions That Have Been On My Mind


There is a woman who walks in my neighborhood every day. Every Day. I admire and envy her dedication and commitment.

Recently she passed me on her walk. I had been taking pictures of the lovely spring flowers.

As she passed me I turned and snapped a picture of her too. I couldn't help myself. Do you remember how 101 Dalmations starts? It starts by talking about how people look like their dogs. Well...this is very true of this neighbor of mine. She is tall and has very skinny army and legs and red hair. The first time I saw her dog I laughed & laughed.

Because her dog is also tall and has skinny legs and red hair. They are obviously a match made in doggy heaven.

I always wonder. Did she buy the dog because it matched her? Did they grow to be more like each other? My inquiring mind certainly wants to know.

But I have another, more important question.

Any time Russ & I have driven out of the neighborhood and passed this walking neighbor I have the same thought. "Sigh...I wish I was that skinny."

And in the same moment that I am thinking that, Russ will invariably say, "I'm sure glad you aren't that skinny."

Which leads me to my other question. This wonderful man loves me. He likes the way I'm shaped. He is smart enough to know that a tummy that has experienced 3 pregnancies and then on the 4th pregnancy carries three babies at the same time is never going to be the same again. And he is perfectly fine with it.

So why can't I be happy—really and truly happy—with my body?

(sorry to repost this picture--but I just love it!)

7 comments:

  1. You have the W..... body . . . what could be wrong with that?

    ReplyDelete
  2. and by W..... I mean your maiden name. In case you were confused.

    ReplyDelete
  3. You know what? I wouldn't be surprised if your neighbor has someone she wishes she looked more like! I think that no matter how hard we try, we'll always have some dissatisfaction with our bodies because Satan tries so hard to temp us on that front.

    ReplyDelete
  4. I don't know if it is Satan tempting us. I wish to take better care of my body because it is a gift from God that I don't feel like a very grateful receiver. When it says in the Word of Wisdom to eat meat sparingly and I have it at least one meal a day if not two...that's not Satan telling me how my body is upsetting. That's scripture.
    Sure occasionally I wish I was as in shape as Matt Damon, but oh well. Not in this life.
    --
    Is it possible Russ doesn't care about the shape on the outside as much as he loves the girl he fell in love with on the inside. There are a lot of boring/insensitive/selfish anorexic supermodels. There is only one woman Russ thought was a perfect person (in and out) to mother his children. To share his secrets and aspirations with. To go stimulate the island economies with. To put up with him. Looks fade (what will that woman do when her dog dies? Is she going to start acting like a beagle or a yellow lab?) but the whole person Russ fell in love with remains forever.

    ReplyDelete
  5. InkMom--being a Watson is perhaps part of the problem. Most of the time I am by far the largest of the Watsons. Certainly the only one to have carried triplets and have had a c-section--and it shows! On the other hand, the Watson genes have been mostly good to me in that respect.

    Katie--you're probably right. Otherwise why on earth is she walking so vigorously 365 days a year? I have never forgotten the story someone told at book club about their perfectly beautiful friend who was tormented by the imperfection of one hidden body part and finally had plastic surgery. I don't want to be like that!

    Sean--thanks for your beautiful comment. I know you are right, and it so frustrates me that I can't always bring my feelings about my body in line with how I should feel.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Not to undermine the focus of your post, but the point I keep thinking about is when and how will you be making this neighbor's acquaintance? Perhaps she has noticed you and your lovely family and has wondered about you in her daily walks. =)

    ReplyDelete
  7. I just watched 101 Dalmatians TODAY! Funny. :) I totally agree with Katie, as well...especially for women.

    But, I think you're beautiful - you're always clean and put together, you dress well, and I've ALWAYS admired how often you have a smile on your face, which always makes a body beautiful!

    ReplyDelete