Flawed and Beautiful

 

 

 https://unsplash.com/@kadh

OR YOU COULD JUST LIVE

You are going to wish your body was more

you are going to wish your body was less

you are going to wish your body would change

you are going to wish your body would not.

 

You are going to wish your body was many things

between now

and the day you leave this mortal coil.

And one day

as is always the way

you will look back

and see

that your body was always as it should be

doing its best

to be you

for you.

And you are then going to wish that just once

you had told your body

I accept you, as you are, right now.

And that maybe had you done this

you would have spared yourself a lifetime

of wishing for something you didn’t really ever need.

That what it was you should have been wishing for in fact

was the courage to accept

the strength to embrace

the wisdom to really see

what you have.

You’re going to wish for many things

when it comes to your body.

Or you could just wish for health.

And live your life

flawed and beautiful.

 

by Donna Ashworth from her book 'I Wish I Knew'

ISBN 978-78530-379-1

In her book of poems 'to soothe your soul and strengthen you spirit'  Donna Ashworth  advises; 'Feed yourself well, physically, mentally and spiritually, and then enjoy your life with the vessel you inhabit.'

Click here to read about body image in adulthood.  

Click here to read about body image in younger people. 

Writing Prompts:

• Write about what, in the past, you have wished for your body. Set a timer for six minutes and write without stopping.
• Describe how you feel about your body right now, in this present moment? 
• Do you agree with the possibility posed in the last three lines of the poem? Are you 'flawed and beautiful'? Write about it. 
• Make three lists of how you feed yourself physically, mentally and spiritually? What else you could do to 'feed yourself'? Add these to your lists.