“I look like I should climb 5.14, not you.” * A friend of mine said this to me. She continued, “I mean, you don’t really have muscles. I’m way more ripped.” In this moment I had a swell of emotions come over me; anger, frustration, defensiveness and hurt. Why is it ok to be comparing my body to hers and undermining the things I have climbed? How and why could a girlfriend say these things to me? When she left I went in front of the mirror and began criticizing the things about my body that are sometimes easy not to be in love with. Sure, I don’t have the most ripped shoulders. Yep, I have cellulite and some stretch marks (but what 32 year old woman doesn’t) and I have short ass arms. But we are our own worst critics, right? * Shortly thereafter, I find my roots again because the truth is that my body has done some pretty cool things; it has held together for the greater part of 20 years through intensive training and competition, taken me 31 miles for my birthday, taken me up 31 pitches in a day for yet another birthday challenge, jumped into frozen (literally) lakes, it gets me through every day. It allows me to hug my friends, chase my dog, hike to the top of that mountain and ski down. So I look in the mirror again with different eyes and I see strength. But I have to be honest. My body hasn’t done these things without being led by my brain. * My body works for me in the way it does for a few reasons; I believe in myself, I’m not afraid to work my weaknesses even though it will feel like a blow to the ego at first, and I take care of it. It doesn’t matter what you look like. It matters what you feel like. * So yes, maybe I don’t look like I can climb 5.14, but I have and I will continue to do so because I believe in myself. * Can we stop all the negative self-image talk in public? I know that if I hear it, the younger generations are definitely hearing it. And just as I did, they are likely going home to look at their bodies in the mirror – criticizing the things that don’t match up to what ‘ideal’ is. I want all the youngsters in our community to grow up in our sport believing they can do whatever they work hard for despite their looks

chelseanicholerudeさん(@chelseanicholerude)が投稿した動画 - 2018/12/18 03:35:28