The guy that says goodbye to you is out of his mind.

In case you didn’t already know, it wasn’t your thighs or your arm jiggle. That’s just in your pretty little head. It wasn’t that annoying hormonal breakout you had last week. You are the only one who paid that any attention. You’re just human, baby, and us humans we are all so beautifully flawed.

You don’t need to start that trendy diet everyone is doing these days. Don’t bother wasting your money on the best-selling book or the packaged, processed food. Diets are complete crap. If they actually worked we wouldn’t be in the midst of national obesity crisis.

Think about it. Go to yoga instead. Grab yourself a juicy piece of fruit. You don’t need a boob job or P90X. That’s all just bullsh*t.

Dear, know this, you are perfect as you are.

You might be thinking to yourself, “You don’t know me!” but I do. See, as fellow human creatures, our hearts ache and break all the same.

Trust this. The universe, he or she has your back. Let’s go with she. The omnipresent mother is always steering us in the right direction on our journey. One day it will make sense why it didn’t work out. Why it made you cry. Gratitude will wash over your skin and soak through to your heart. You will tilt your head back, looking up at the brightest blue sky and think to yourself, momma always knows best.

In the mean time, go out with your girlfriends. Drink too much wine. Enjoy a beer (or seven). Use their eyes to look at yourself. You will be amazed at how beautiful you are.

Laugh and drink and dance and cry. Cry right smack dab in the middle of the crowded city street. Cry in the back of a cab. Cry on the strong, capable shoulders of the women whom you love so and that in return love you just as you are.

Cry in savasana the next day, not just because your body is all at once throbbing and aching because of the lack of sleep and dehydration.

Cry because you had the almighty, healing pleasure of spending your night in the warm, rich company of those who care for you unconditionally.

The practice will ring out the muscles and draw out the toxins, both chemical and emotional. And you will start to heal. One long inhale and deep full-body exhale at a time.

Learn to be a-okay with yourself, just as you are today. It might take some time. A whole lot of time. And you will still have your moments. We all have our moments.

Be patient with your little self.

And if you don’t want to take my word for it, maybe you will take his. You don’t need to change a thing about you, babe. I’m telling you from where I sit, you’re one of a kind.

Relephant bonus:

Carolyn Gilligan is a daughter, sister, best friend, listener, lover, ice cream eater, sometimes writer, easily excitable, embarrassingly gullible yoga teacher in training who drinks too much coffee, makes a lot of mistakes and has too much fun for her own good.

 

 

Like elephant love on Facebook.

~

Editor: Kate Bartolotta