Molting

Molting

I was hiking with a friend the other day and had quite the awaking.  As we are hiking along I am behind her and as she zips along the steep, rough terrain like she is on a leisurely stroll through the park...hello... we are climbing a mountain...she does not even stop to catch her breath! Me...I look and sound like I am in serious need of a medivac!

As we are teetering on the steep embankment catching "my" breath...I realized something...My personal best is NOT her personal best. Every persons circumstances are different...she is a person who can run upwards of 10 miles...is ten years younger than me...and weighs at least 70 pounds less than I do! We both are in very different places with our physical body, and that's ok.

You have to understand that whatever I do I have to be GREAT in! I am not a slacker and I want to be the best or I don't even bother trying...so my personal best has got to be better than whoever is considered "the best". It can be very exhausting never giving yourself a break, my expectations for myself have always been very unrealistic!

Now, I do believe that we have to set the bar high in life or we will never go far, but we have to learn to accept ourselves for the individuals that we are before we can move forward. So as I stood hanging on that side of the cliff I had my ah ha moment... for the first time I was completely content with who and where I was in life. I took a brief glance back at where I was just one year ago...I was lost, stuck inside this fat suit I had built to protect myself from the world. I used Oreos to deal with life's ups and downs and did not feel like I would ever conquer this problem I was faced with every day. My days were filled with a blackness that I was sure would never leave.

And today... 11 months later... I was standing on a mountain, molting from the suit that held me back in so many ways. I realized that I don't have to be the best hiker out there, I just have to do my personal best. Anyone can get to the top of the mountain...it does not matter how you got there or how long it took, because it is the steps you took along the path that molds who you are today. And whoever that person is...love and accept them...that is the key to moving forward without barriers. Love is all you need;)