Jun. 2, 2008
The Evils of Florescent Lighting
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Ya know, you think that you are doing fine -- and then one day, you, stupidly, decide to go swimsuit shopping. Ugh! Ummm, what was I thinking? And, here's the catch....the sad catch.....I'm quite fit and in shape. I bet that if we tried, we could get enough ladies to sign a petition to have swimsuits banned! Whether we're still trying to lose those last pregnancy pounds or whether we're in shape....it's one thing with which we all can commiserate....that dreaded swimsuit shopping! Seriously, you'd think that the girl who was working in the dressing room would have felt the whole "girl power" thing and given me a heads-up! Isn't that supposed to be all in-vogue right now? Nope, all she says is "how many items". She's no help. :-) So, okay, surely the dressing room lighting has something to do with it right? (Work with me here girls...right?) Whatever this lighting is....it is evil. Florescent, that's it -- I've decided that I hate florescent lighting! We should create a new dressing room style all together. Beautiful, feminine and modern lighting, happy music that makes you forget that you are spending money, some really pretty scent like honeysuckle or the like, and occasionally a little voice that says "That looks great on you!" I'm a huge exercise fanatic. I exercise every day and a lot. In part because I have to. My metabolism turned on me years ago and it just takes maintenance to keep my short little body from gaining weight. Would that I still had the metabolism that I had 20 years ago! But, if I'm being honest, I'm glad that I don't. I know that that sounds crazy but....if I had never had to.....I don't know that I ever would have changed my lifestyle from the one of that girl who could eat cheetos for lunch every day. Health is about so much more than weight. I may have started exercising and eating healthy to keep my weight in line, but as I've aged, I've learned so much more about health and being healthy is so much more involved and so much more rewarding than just being thin. And anyone who's read the archives of this blog knows that I'm a bit fanatical about health too. Anyway, truth be told....that swimsuit shopping horror....well, it does have a little to do with me. Much as I hate to admit it....I spend all of this time exercising and I've known for a while that I'm just not doing it very efficiently. Boy, looking at yourself in a swim suit in a dressing room mirror will drive that truth home in no time flat! I do a lot of the right things....but, I've fallen behind on doing pilates these last few months. If you ever wondered if pilates was worth all of the hype about it.....I'm here to tell you.....it is...and then some! When I'm faithful with the pilates, I'm always in the best shape of my life. I do other things too just because I'm short and I have to. (I'm secretly jealous of all of you tall ladies!) But, there is just something about pilates. You know it's good when you can even look in a dressing room mirror without making a pact to become an anorexic on your way out the door! (No, I like food too much to ever become an anorexic). (And just in case I now have you worried about me....I spent enough time being sick while pregnant to know that I never want to become bulimic!) Nope, I'm true to the natural, old fashioned ways of doing things and so.....guess that means that I need to dust off my pilates tapes before I darken the door of another dressing room with a swimsuit in hand! Just be careful ladies.....be prepared before you go swimsuit shopping this season. Mentally prepared that is. You walk into the dressing room all happy-go-lucky and you walk out wondering why you had that cookie earlier! Why are we so hard on ourselves? We would never, ever be as hard on our friends as we are on ourselves. I'd never see the flaws in my friends that I see in myself. Of course, we do have a responsibility to take care of ourselves, but we also need to learn to see ourselves as God sees us. He sees the inside. He sees the heart. That's where beauty lies for Him. It's easy to forget that while we're tending to the outside. The Bible says that "Out of the overflow of the heart, the mouth speaks". I think that we can take that even a step further. Is there anything that we do that doesn't stem from someplace in the heart? Pilates is good and, for some of us, necessary....but, accepting ourselves and seeing ourselves as God sees us....now that's best. I don't know about you, but I struggle with remembering that "the good is the enemy of the best". I'm thankful that He looks at the inside and continually prompts me to do the same. (Now, if you see me heading toward a dressing room with a swimsuit in hand, please remind me of this would you?!) |