Have you seen this girl?

Have you seen this girl? Me either, at least not for a while. 🙁 I ran across this photo the other day and decided to post it as my #mondaymotivation to lose a few extra pandemic pounds and get back into shape. But last night it occurred to me that this girl isn’t just lighter in the literal sense. She’s not yet carrying the weight of grief and loss or the weight of fear and anger and uncertainty about a pandemic that seems far from over. I suspect that finding her again is going to require more than just moving my body and monitoring my plate. It’s going to involve managing stress, going easy on myself, and being okay with the idea that life is just hard … yet it can also be beautiful. I think part of getting back into “shape” involves having the mental fortitude to recognize that those two concepts don’t have to be mutually exclusive. It’s okay to have both tough days and days filled with joy. And I think I recognized that while I may not ever be able to find *this* girl again, I’ll bet I’m going to find a better version. ❤️❤️❤️

*This is taken from a recent Facebook post I wrote; I wanted to add it here to keep it with my other blog posts.