Tuesday, March 13, 2007

In This Skin



At the age of 32 I am finally comfortable in this skin. I am definitely not the (in retrospect) somewhat flawless beautiful young woman that I used to be, but, I love myself. At this age, I know that perfection comes from the inside out. I know that beauty is more than skin deep. At this age, I can wear my body proudly, as I display the road map of my life. I have the stretch marks to show the sacrifices that I made for motherhood. I have scars to show the various surgeries that my body has required to keep functioning properly. I have noticed that my hands are starting to look more wrinkled and weathered and I am proud of this. These are the hands of a mother, an artist, a creator. In this skin, I feel alive and I am finally comfortable with my position in the world.

14 comments:

Susie said...

Thanks for visiting me! I enjoyed reading your post on this topic. You
have learned the wisdom of that old saying "beauty is only skin deep" It sounds as though your beauty comes from deep within you...
:)

Lee said...

What a beautiful post. I love that you are embracing you and like you. I hear the 30's are better than the 20's, and it sounds like they are. I look forward to it.

Linds said...

You have said it so well, Zoe, and you will be just fine as the decades roll by. Thanks for your lovely comment! Linda brings up the word "contentment" and I really think this is the essence of growing older. I will be back to keep up with your adventures!

Dawn said...

Thank you so much for stopping by this morning and for the very encouraging comment. I appreciate it so much!

My scars are healing, definitely, but it was a rough road the last few years with both of our children experiencing difficulties. You can read about Kristen's journey through anorexia, and my response, on both of our blogs. Hers (Mama's So-Called Life), is put together as My Story on her sidebar. Mine is not so well ordered, but it is in my archives in early January. Kevin and I are writing our story as well, and are trying to get to Part 4. If you are interested, my first 3 and his (on his wife's blog, which is linked from mine) are about his journey THROUGH heroin addiction. Amazing story of God's grace and redemption. I call mine "A Story of Deliverance".

Thanks again - I will definitely remember that I'm a steak sandwich, not bologna!

Montserrat said...

Being content with who we are is real self esteem. A great lesson to learn at any age. Wonderful post!

Unknown said...

I too am finally at that point. I have accepted my "belly" with it's many battle scars given by my 3 children. I have accepted the vein that pops out on my forehead when I laugh so hard I cry. I have accepted that I can no longer tolerate broccoli without Beano. I have accepted that my booty is a little squishy...but thankful my brain is not! I have accepted that at the end of an arduous day, the only people that I need please are probably covered in food and dirt....including my husband. God has a phenomenal sense of humor!

Dawn said...

Thank you again - we have been through a lot, but God has been faithful through it all.

An Ordinary Mom said...

You said it so simply and beautifully! I hope to become more and more comfortable in my own skin as time progresses.

BTW, thanks for designing the lovely button!

Crystal said...

I love your words, Zoe! "The roadmaps" and "my hands..." - priceless pictures there! You sound so confident and true to what you believe. I look forward to checking out your archives for more good stuff.

Thank you for stopping on my blog to leave your comments - I really appreciate them!

Lei said...

It ried to comment when I read thsi alst night, but Blogger was buggin'. Lol. I am so glad you are a part of this Zoe. I love you and your perspective - always!

Lei said...

typos... you know what i meant though :)

someone else said...

What a wonderful place in life to be when we reach the stage of enjoying who we are! Thanks for sharing these thoughts.

And thank you for the kind words about Beth's button for the W to W thing. You both created beautiful icons for us to use!

Anonymous said...

I love how you describe your hands. When you're living a great life, you get more and more beautiful no matter what physical scars and wrinkles may come.

Thank you for commenting on my blog. You said you need to "spiff yours up" - well it looks pretty "spiffy" to me! I LOVE your header! :-)

Susan said...

Enjoyed meeting you on this post.