Hell or high water! I'm gonna do this!

amandads · 03-09-2006, 04:50 PM

OK Josephine...when I said one of these days, I really meant one of these YEARS LMAO...I do good to walk my 2 15 minute miles right now HAHA...
So one of these YEARS, sure I would love to run along side you lol

And you're workouts get my heart right up there in my fat burning zone...who needs to exercise when all we have to do is just READ your journal LOL j/k, I love you and your workouts! you are amazing!

**Josephine** · 03-09-2006, 05:15 PM

Too funny Amanda! Thanks Jessie. You've got me cracken up at my desk! Hey - you'll get there, I remember when I couldn't walk a flight of stairs without huffing and puffing and I was in my 20's then!

This is one of my favorite sayings:

I AM NOT MY BODY, I AM NOT MY MIND, I AM NOT MY GENDER. I AM A SPIRITUAL BEING HAVING A HUMAN EXPERIENCE...

O.k. - how Zen right. I do read that and say but ...while I am having this human experience can I please have a great body to have it in?
No really - it's good for us to realize we are more than our bodies! When I read post's on here I always think how beautiful these women are and I have never met them but they are my beautiful friends!

amandads · 03-09-2006, 05:19 PM

I loved your Zen moment and so agree with your take on it! As for the huffing and puffing going up the stairs, yeah I can relate, and I am still in my 20's though just barely LOL...it's gottan get better though...i refuse to let it get worse!

You're terrific!

-Amanda

**jessielynn0521** · 03-09-2006, 07:13 PM

lol i do my fair share of the huffing and puffing also you are so sweet jo i read what you write in these journals and makes me wanna give you a big hug and thank you you have been so much help to each of us and i totally understand the post i read in jills i still dont have the day where i can look in the mirror and name 1 thing i like about myself I have made that my goal also not only to loose weight and get health but learn to love myself sure I am by far no beauty queen but when you have always thought of yourself as UGLY it would be nice to look in the mirror one morning and say ya know i look pretty today or just to name 1 thing positive that you like about yourself i will get there and i will also get the book you recommended thanks hun big hugs

**yesimln** · 03-09-2006, 08:28 PM

Go Jo! 6 pounds is awesome. I can't tell you how long it would take me to do 5 miles of anything - I'm slow as molasses on stuff like that! But your dedication inspires me. Keep up the awesome work! Ellen

**jessielynn0521** · 03-10-2006, 01:59 PM

hi hun just checkin in on ya have a great day at work today

**Josephine** · 03-10-2006, 02:43 PM

Good morning friends! Hope everyone is doing well! Jessie, Thank you for your kind words. I have recieved so much encouragement myself from the friends I have met here, I feel it is so important to give it back as much as I can. I should let you know, I watched this interview with Merrill Streep and she was talking about watching herself in the movie "Sophies Choice." She was much younger then when she played that part. She said that she looked at the woman ( herself) and said "why was I so mean to her? She was so beautiful!" - I think she is now in her 50's and it has taken her that long to be happy with herself and realize how tough and hurtful she has been on herself.

So many of us don't get the encouragement, support and appreciation we deserve. Even as young girls we are always taught to value our looks over our hearts and minds. Tell a woman she's ditsy and she'll giggle and shrug but tell her she's fat and she'll fall apart and get depressed. It's our society, culture and upbringing and it becomes this vicious self abusing cycle. We love our friends even when they gain fifty pounds but hate ourselves when we gain five. Why do we judge so harshless? We are willing to put ourself through extremes and ultimately give up and over eat or just throw in the towel and along with it ourself esteems.
I have this great coffee table book about wise women it has beautiful black and white pictures that show women of all ages. In there is a woman who was a ballet dancer her whole life and now she is 93. She said she finally see's how beautiful she is and excepts her body and now it is a raisen! I love that. I wish for that kind of peace and surrender for us all. And I am not talking about giving in to bad eating habits and lack of exercise, I am talking about being the best we can be, everyday and being proud of ourselves for that and loving ourselves. Something that women seem to have such a hard time doing.

One last thing from Ms. Ramble ( that's me! ) - I think of women like Whoppie Goldberg, minorities who aren't beautiful by todays standards but still project themselves with self confidence and be the best they can be despite the cultural opinions of what beauty is and we listen. Whoppie projected herself into celebrity status and even married Ted Dansen. I wonder if she knows she doesn't look like Iman, better yet do you think she really cares? Good for her! Look at that women's confidence!

Jessie, for your future and that of the ones you love, look again in the mirror. You are God's amazing creation and if you continue to put yourself down you are putting his work down. ( Could you create a living thing? It's a pretty amazing thought) Instead honor his work and find your beauty and foster it so it can grow. Be the best woman you can be and you will be amazed at how you will be happier and you will be able to give more of yourself and in doing so become even more. Please don't wait until you find out your dying of some disease to get your wake up call to start living your best. NO BODY IS GETTING OUT OF HERE ALIVE! WERE ALL GONNA DIE! It is just up to you to decide how you will live it when you are here and the choice is yours. In case your Momma didn't tell you this when you were a kid " YOU can do anything!"
Alright - gotta get of my soap box! Have a great day!

**jessielynn0521** · 03-10-2006, 03:59 PM

ok girly ya got me cryin I didnt come from a very supportive family at all so I grew never hearing you are pretty you look nice today nothing like that it was always you sure you wanna eat that its gonna go straight to your butt or something to that sort all my life it was negative comments so when I look in the mirror its very hard to say something positive about myself you dont realize how what you are told when you are young will make such a impact on your life when you are older but it does but from the comments in the gym class about the "ghetto booty" or the lil comments that family and friends make when you think you are doing good those lil comments always tend to resurface I am to the point that I know I am not a beauty queen and I am ok with that but we are all special in our own way and maybe I am not the pretty one of the family or the smart one of the family I am just me and I think me is a pretty darn good thing to be I have one of the biggest hearts and that matters alot more to me