Living Large and Loving It. What
is your reaction to this title or concept? I have received a
number of responses. Intrigue with the concept. A few exuberant
encouragements. Often a somewhat condescending bemusement.
Thinly veiled judgement - how dare you be happy being inappropriate?
(read - big) But mostly a sort of confusion as in - it does not
compute. It is a concept so foreign to our North American sensibilities
that we tend to glance and move on. Much as we do around homeless
people. There is a peripheral awareness that there is an issue
that needs to be addressed and a vague discomfort that makes
us hurry by, or pause to throw some money in their outstretched
hat, but no real desire to connect. Not only have these been
my observations of how others react, but also my own internal
responses. It is those internal judgements that I have seen mirrored
in the world outside that has prompted me to delve into the shadow
and light world of Living Large and Loving It.
Living Large and Loving It is not just about learning to
love our bodies - no matter what their shape and size It is about
realizing that we are precious and whole exactly as we are! It
is about accepting that we deserve to be "big" in any
area of life that we choose.
Most of us, men, women, young, old, of every ethnicity and
spiritual heritage, receive messages - directly or indirectly
about how we "should" be. Our parents, teachers, family,
peers, and particularly the media, inundate us with their expectations
of what is "good", "bad", "successful"
and "desirable".
Four to six hundred advertisements bombard us every day in
magazines, on billboards, on the radio, T.V. and in newspapers. One
in eleven has a direct message about beauty, not even counting
the indirect messages.
This article, the first in a series, explores taking up occupancy
inside our own skin, rather than living above the chin until
you're thin, or until you're more, or less ________ ... well, you
fill in the blank. It is time that we shared ideas that may help
us find greater well-being in the body we have, and with the
person that we are.
In practice, the focus of Living Large and Loving It is not
on weight at all, but rather on the decisions we make day-to-day
about loving and accepting ourselves.
Few people who read this publication, or these articles, have
not invested time in their own growth. Whether through
therapy, self-help reading, workshops, spiritual questing or
watching the fix-me gurus on T.V., we have all been exposed to
the hue and cry of - Love Thyself. In fact, for some it has provided
another way to judge ourselves; another barometer of our inadequacy.
We do so love to make ourselves right about being so wrong. So
I invite you to consider the following in the gentlest of ways. Use
these questions as a way to shine a soft light into your
shadowy corners. The quest for self-acceptance can be a fun,
tender and unfolding process.
What is your experience of being 'big' in the world?
(In whatever way you are 'big'.) · What messages are you
aware of receiving around this area? And whose beliefs are those?
(The voices in our heads are not necessarily our own) ·
Is there an area of your life where you would like to expand?
If so, in what way? · What are the fears that prevent
you from expanding easily? · What might change if you
expanded or let your bigness shine through?
I believe that when we unfold or shine we give people a gift.
We not only give them the experience of our wholeness, we give
them permission to be 'big' themselves. And this unfolding is
not about 'becoming' a new and improved you - it's about accepting
how precious and unique you are right now - even with all your
limitations and shadow aspects. To borrow a line from the movie
Contact when Jodie Foster was talking about humans in the grand
scheme of things - "We are small and insignificant and so
precious and rare." Or as Nelson Mandela said in his inaugural
speech, "Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate.
Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It
is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us... Your
playing small doesn't serve the world! There's nothing enlightened
about shrinking so that other people won't feel insecure around
you and as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give
other people permission to do the same. ."
Living Large and Loving It is not a 'To Do' item - it's simply
a way of walking in acceptance of who we really are and celebrating
it. Blessings on your journey.
Jannette Anderson is the President
of Positive Results, a training and personal and professional
coaching company. Her courses, "Living Large and Loving
It", "Sexy is a State of Mind" and "What's
My Life Purpose and Will It Pay the Rent?" are enlightening,
encouraging, practical and most of all fun! Her professional
passion is helping companies grow and her personal passion is
supporting people in living juicy, succulent lives.
You can reach Jannette at 403-270-0977
or via email at positiveresults@shaw.ca.
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by
Jannette Anderson