Welcome to a brand new post inspired by suggestions from some lovely MM readers who have already read my book. Each week (if this works) I’m going to ask you what you’re feeling particularly smug and particularly crap about.
Note: This is different to Friday’s best/worst moments of the week post because…..it is. Best/worst is all about highlights and lowlights. Things that happen to you or around you. Often, things out of your control.
But CRAP/SMUG is about things that YOU’VE done that make you feel guilty or proud of yourself.
RULES:
1 – you don’t have to have both, you can have just one.
2 – in my book, I know it related specifically to being a mother but for the purposes of this post, it doesn’t have to. Mothers certainly don’t have a monopoly on feeling guilty. Or smug. So I’ll go first….
SMUG: I cleaned dog poo and then vomit out of my carpet with uncharacteristic good humour and very little complaint (two unfortunate incidents at either end of Sunday) because it was Father’s Day and I’d made a pledge to let my husband have a day free from all things unpleasant.
CRAP: I sent my child to yet another birthday party this week without a present. I am HOPELESS at presents. It’s my blind spot. Not because I’m tight. Just because I am horribly disorganised and only ever remember about 3 minutes before I (or my child) is due to attend a birthday. I really must find a way to change this because it’s shockingly rude.
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Yes I am (sorry it's taken so long to respond - I'm in Fiji!!! - see my blog for details - I am doing just as little as I hoped...)
I hope you enjoyed the story. Thanks for reading it. xxxxxxxxxx
I'm actually feeling kind of smug this weekend. I have blown some stubborn stereotypes to bits - I have been powering on with my Communications degree by distance education, into my 6th subject now. I'm a single mum, I work part time and I happen to be overweight. Many people think of single mums and overweight women in a negative way and I am happy to see people's faces when they hear that I am educating myself and I don't hate myself for being overweight.
Judging from the surprise and frowns they're not so happy about it because I have challenged their prejudices. I have rattled their cages and not allowed myself to be dictated by what I am supposed to be like in any given category that I belong to. A person who is not insecure themselves will be happy for me and impressed that I am moving forward and getting on with life.
In fact, in my 40's I've never been more comfortable in my own skin than I am now. If I am large it's because I've made some very bad food choices and not exercised enough. Today I took my kids to a park and we got physical for an hour. We played ball, walked, and basically allowed ourselves to start getting used to the outdoors, we're going to do more of this in the months to come.
I'm also happy to say that I don't feel the need for people's approval any more, I left that behind in my 20's. I do feel bad from time to time and still make bad food choices, but I also make sure that I surround myself with good, positive people who see me as I really am, like the person within and don't judge me on what the scales say. They have been instrumental to all the good that I have experienced in life.
I hope that other large people, women in particular, are not prepared to allow themselves to fall victim to needing other people's approval. Especially if they're overweight. If you lose weight, do it for you - stuff the image women are supposed to have, stuff it all. It's about how you feel, how you see yourself and where you go from here.