Healthy is Beautiful

Smile because you are beautiful.

 

 

There was a time in my life when I felt my beauty, internal and external, had been taken away from me. My illness, lupus, created a rift between who I thought I was (healthy, vibrant, free) versus the reality of my situation (I was sick, tired and scared). I mourned my former self, I yearned for her to return so I could feel whole and pretty again. At age fourteen, I was broken by my diagnosis, I knew life would never be the same. I gained weight from high dose prednisone and lost my hair from chemotherapy, I was devastated. I turned inward during my high school years, feeling robbed, hoping one day I would have my self back.

 

I eventually learned to accept lupus as a part of me, I had to make peace with the disease that I wanted to fight against with everything I had. I knew I was only fighting against myself, after all it was my own immune system creating the havoc, I was only creating more stress (and illness) as I resisted. Only by learning to live with my new identity was I was ready to move beyond lupus patient to lupus survivor.

 

As the years passed, I was less and less concerned about my physical appearance, which at the time was beyond my control. I became more concerned with my overall health, I became a vegetarian and started practicing martial arts, yoga and meditation. Eventually I did get better, my hair grew back into a pixie style by my high school graduation, I lost weight as my prednisone decreased until I was in complete remission. My physical looks returned to what I had known pre-illness, while I felt more like myself on the outside, I was forever changed because of my experience.

 

Today, when women complain about their looks to me or compare themselves to someone they think is more attractive, I have a difficult time responding. I've been enjoying remission for close to twenty years and no one could guess that I have a chronic illness. I am healthy by all accounts, and I take my health seriously. I'm of the "prevention is hot" camp and do all that I can to take care of myself.  

 

Women who think they should look one way or another forget their innate beauty and how blessed they are to have their health. Foster gorgeousness from the inside out by practicing self love, we love ourselves when we eat healthfully, exercise and decrease stress. Our outsides are a reflection of our internal health- make health your goal, instead of conforming to society's narrow definition of what is attractive. Remember that your health is a gift, have gratitude for your amazing body. You are alive, you are healthy, you are beautiful. 

 

 

My inspiration for this post: Kris Carr , beautiful cancer survivor, watch her documentary Crazy Sexy Cancer and read her Crazy Sexy Diet book (not about dieting to lose weight, but to achieve greater health).