In Appreciation of the Magnificent Gift of our Bodies, no Matter our Size. {Poem} Via Jenny O'Hare

“Someone I loved once gave me a box full of darkness. It took me years to understand that this too, was a gift.” ~ Mary Oliver

I have had a fraught relationship with my body over the years, particularly as a growing teenager and a young adult.

It has taken me a long time to appreciate this gift as the worthy vessel that it is. Like many precious elements of our lives, we cannot always appreciate them when we need to, with hindsight offering the best angle.

Let’s not waste our lives waiting for gifts to reveal themselves. Let us try to appreciate all that we have, without holding the false measuring tool of perfection on our precious lives.

A Gift.

This is a gift.This is a gift, from my body to me.This is a gift, from my body to itself.This lesson.

This extra flesh, these extra parts of me that expand my physical being,Have been sent to meTo teach me to love my body for its inherent worthIts value despite its extra edgingDespite the subtle lack of slenderDespite what I feel when I look in the mirror,Or precisely because of that.

Remember when you promised to love your body?To love it as your worthy vessel through this physical experience,To love its efficacy, the miracle of its function,Its glorious physicality?

Remember when you promised to love it because it works,Because it allows you to BeHere, now, experiencing all of this?Remember that?

Love your body now just as much as ever,For it is made for more than resembling the images of what we are told to love.

My body, and your body, and all bodies

Are more miracle and wonderThan glossy pictures can dictate or define

My body, and your body, and all bodiesAre here to represent a unique flair of existence,A personally designed choreography by the universe in motion,An inimitable expression of creation.

My body, and your body, and all bodiesAre made for the reality of love,The messy, explosive journey of Real True Love.

My body, and your body, and all bodies,That house heart and mind and soul,Are made for expansion and opening,And cracking and retracting,And crushing and rebuildingAnd opening and shiningAnd radiation of Love.

I am Love. You are too.And this lessonShows that every giftIn whatever form it comesCan grow you and show youThe reality of your being.

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Author: Jenny O’Hare
Image: @yourdailyreset/Instagram
Editor: Callie Rushton