Hello Cool Woman,
I had an interesting dream the other night. In the dream, I was at the kitchen table sitting across from my body and she began to speak to me. This is what she said:
“I’ve been meaning to have a chat with you for some time now. I love this life we’re living! I love our relationship and all the people we’ve met, the places we’ve visited, the things we’ve seen—holy moly—even the time those babies shared our space–for nine months, wasn’t it? What a ride! You’re the brains and I’m the braun; a perfect duo—till death do us part.
“But what I really want you to consider, is changing the way you talk about me. I’m sure you don’t know this, but I hear every word and every thought you say and some of it is insulting. It does nothing for my self-trust. Give me a little credit. I’m not the same as when I was twenty, but I do cart you around, don’t I? You gotta be happy that you can still move with relative ease and you get to do most of the things you’ve always done.
“Give less attention to what the scale says and more on being grateful for what I can do. And then take me out to play. I hate it when you sit at the computer for hours on end. I don’t care what we do—walk, dance, skip, slide; just move, move, move me. Not only will you feel my joy, I’ll work better for you all the days we are together.
“It’s natural to compare me with others, but don’t. Look around. Some of the bodies are shorter, taller, wider, less hairy, but that’s the way they are. Let them have their own identities with their own shapes, but girlfriend, be loyal to me. Be on my side. You and I have been through this whole life together and I’m it! I mean, you never get another body.
“Maybe you’d remember to speak loving words about me if you gave me a nice name. Something like, Lovely, Precious, Beauty, Hot Stuff—I don’t know, just pick one. That way, when you look in the mirror or catch my reflection on your computer screen, you’ll remember to smile and see who I am and be motivated to feed me healthy stuff and do all the things you know I crave in order to feel good.
“It’s you and me, kid. We’re together for this life, and isn’t it a wild journey? Haven’t I done a pretty good job so far? Unlike you, I don’t last forever, so make me your priority today and every day.â€
And then I woke up. I slid off the bed and walked to the closet to get my slippers and as I passed the mirror and leaned in to inspect my face, I whispered, “Hello there, Precious.†She didn’t say a word, but smiled back.
Maybe it was more of a wake-up call than a dream after all. What do you think?
May self-trust build your confidence,
Jan