FGG Photo of the Week: Courage
This week’s image, plucked from our fabulous FGG flickr group, tells a story of courage in the face of fear about how we’ll appear to others. Sometimes the societal and/or self-imposed shame surrounding being fat can spill over into other areas of our lives, holding us back from doing things we’d love to do, like ride a bike, hit the beach, or dip our toes into the world of dating. And that’s a big part of why we started this site: to encourage everyone to live in the here and now rather than awaiting some sparkly, size 8 future.
LaShawn eloquently expressed how she felt the fear and skated anyway:
“Went roller skating for Brodie’s birthday. I told myself I couldn’t skate. After all, too much time has passed and I have gained too much weight.
But, then I got a reality check and laced up.”
A better life isn’t just around the corner; it’s right here, calling us to experience it now. What are you waiting for? Lace up and try something this week that you’ve been avoiding because of your weight. It doesn’t have to be something big, just something that feels brave to you. And don’t forget to come here and tell us how it went!
Good for you!
As a rollergirl I see alot of girls come to open skates and recruitment night for roller debry and I hear them say things like their too fat.
I am a proud size 22/24 and I am one of the most feared derby gals out there!
Keep skatin’!
very cool!! i bought some roller skates a few years ago and am still waiting to lace them up and get going. i wait for a lot of things because of my weight but i realize that life is too short … and i need to get busy living it!!
The day you posted this, I was on a 3 day 2 night 8 mile backpacking trip. My first ever. I almost backed out, thinking “gads I’m too out of shape and too fat to do this.” Fearing things like being too slow, or the hip belt of the pack not fitting around my waist almost got me. But I decided that if I was going to experience the beautiful scenery I had to ignore the fears and just do it. What was the worst that could happen, a few strangers get annoyed with me for 10 minutes because we had to stop so I could catch my breath? Hell that happens to me if I’m backpacking or not, so, I went. And it was amazing. I learned so much about plant life, how to use a compass, water purification, how to so *so* many cool things that I never would have learned had I backed down and given in to my fat fears. Even though it kicked my ass, and I don’t think I’d go on and 8 mile hike next time, I’m SO happy that I went, and don’t regret a second of it.
(I also learned that 3 of the other forest service workers who were teaching us all of the cool stuff, who were actually on the thin side, got their asses kicked by parts of the hike. It was an equalizing realization for me)
[...] in the Middle” & “Courage” from Fat Girl’s Guide to [...]