Hey, it's me again.
I've been thinking about body image lately. With having two kids in two years and then starting chemo immediately afterwards I have changed a lot. I used to have hair that was thick and easy to do, no longer. I could fit into jeans comfortably, now I can't. My shirts pull in weird places. I will never have flat abs again from the bloating that comes with colon cancer. I don't want to wear nice clothes during chemo weeks for fear of ruining them. I look in the mirror and see me but yet it's not the me I'm accustomed to.
I never imagined this would be one of the things I would have to deal with when I started chemo. However I came across a blog that was talking about self image. https://cannebodyhearme.wordpress.com/2015/04/13/the-after-myth/
And it reminded me of a Dr Seuss poem:
“Today you are You, that is truer than true.
There is no one alive who is Youer than You.
Shout loud, ‘I am lucky to be what I am!
Thank goodness I’m not just a clam or a ham
Or a dusty old jar of sour gooseberry jam!
I am what I am! That’s a great thing to be!
If I say so myself,
HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO ME!’
—Dr. Seuss, from “Happy Birthday to You!”
Once upon a time I had this poem memorized. I guess I need to do it again.
Yesterday I turned on the Mormon channel's talk radio and heard a conversation on their "Endure It Well" show. A mom and dad were telling about their disabled son, Johnny Parker. His crippled hands were what bothered him most about his disability because they were the constant, visible reminder of his disability. He loved the story of Christ healing the withered hands. But, one day in a talk he said, "I have learned that the only way to learn to love these crummy hands is to use them to serve."
ReplyDeleteYou're on the right track sweetie. The body may be crummy now but it does a crazy important work in loving your awesome little family.
<3
Yesterday I turned on the Mormon channel's talk radio and heard a conversation on their "Endure It Well" show. A mom and dad were telling about their disabled son, Johnny Parker. His crippled hands were what bothered him most about his disability because they were the constant, visible reminder of his disability. He loved the story of Christ healing the withered hands. But, one day in a talk he said, "I have learned that the only way to learn to love these crummy hands is to use them to serve."
ReplyDeleteYou're on the right track sweetie. The body may be crummy now but it does a crazy important work in loving your awesome little family.
<3