I ran my first 5K last week, along with my 20-something sister-in-law, who ran her first 10K. After
our race, she put a picture of the two of us on Facebook. Looking at her cute little body next to me, I felt bad at first, but then I realized, I'm
almost 40 and I ran a 5K! In the last two days, I've run nine miles! I'm not obese, not really even overweight, but I've always been hard on myself and, let's face it, I've never been that cute skinny little girl in a bikini. But I'm finally coming to terms with who I am. I am a mother, a wife, a teacher, a friend. I am so much more than my body. Why did this affect me so much?
Well, I've
been thinking a lot about weight due to Abercrombie Fitch making their beautiful people statement and I think it's really sad that a
company would exclude a whole group of people, well exclude the majority of the
people, by saying that they expect only beautiful and thin people to be in their store. First of all, who says only thin people are beautiful? In fact, I know a lot of not-so-beautiful thin people. And, I know a lot of beautiful not-so-thin people. So, we need to start by clarifying that skinny and beautiful don't always belong in the same sentence, just as fat and beautiful can fit perfectly well together.
Second of all, how many people really can fit into a size 0, or even a 2 or 4 pair of jeans? I know of very few. It seems like a really poor business decision to cater to such a small number of people. Now, I know that Abercrombie Fitch does very well and has made millions (billions?), but imagine how much more they could sell if they were just a little more open minded. But, if Jeffries doesn't mind losing all of that business, that's his prerogative.
So, here's what I have learned, in my infinite wisdom (that may just have to do with my age :) ) I may not be the skinny little person that I would like to be. I may not look good in a bathing suit. But I'm healthy and I'm happy. I have the most amazing family anyone could ever ask for who loves me even if I have a little extra to love. I will enjoy an extra glass of wine or the occasional dessert without any guilt, and I will run and run until I can't run anymore. Although I know he'll never see this, Mike Jeffries, you can kiss my ass. ;)
