Disclaimer: I am not a doctor. For that reason, take my words with a grain of salt.
Body positivity campaigns have received backlash for seeming to promote unhealthy lifestyles by telling others to love their bodies. While the campaigns can come off that way, I think they address the subject of loving yourself, but avoid addressing loving the process of change. Some people think of the two ideas as mutually exclusive (e.g. "If you want to change, you must hate some part of yourself.") However, that is not true. It is the opposite, actually.
Telling people to hate themselves is the quickest way to prevent them from wanting to change. It encourages apathy and combativeness with regard to improvement. Promoting self-hatred can serve as a breeding ground for self-destructive behaviors, anhedonia, and hatred of others. If it fosters any desired change, the changes come with no desire or pleasure. Such changes are craved in excess and, in this case, may lead to the development of an eating disorder.
This is not limited to body image. This concept is prevalent in arts, athletics, and a myriad of other practices. I'm sure Galway learned how to love the process of change as well as himself as a young flutist. The key to this process is to be content with where you are, but not settle for it. Keep wanting more from yourself. If you cannot go any further at that point, take a break and look back positively at your progress.
The thing to say to yourself (if that kind of thing works for you) is "I like myself where am, but what will happen if I improve a little?" Make those small positive speculations and then make them reality. That always comes by starting small. If your goal is to add a block to your route for a month, walk that extra block with pride. If it's to jog your normal route, jog your heart out! If it's to even find a route in the first place, map it out.
Work out this goal at your pace on your time at your intensity level. People possess a wide variety of temperaments, cognitive processes, value sets, and, thus, motivations. Some people are motivated by outdoing others; others prefer to outdo themselves. Yet another group is interested in outdoing no one and just wants to avoid conflict while another is more interested in having fun. Some people are intrinsically motivated always, with others it varies, and others just simply aren't. Find out what motivates you, in a healthy way of course.
What do YOU think allows you to love yourself and love the process of change?
"The key to this process is to be content with where you are, but not settle for it. Keep wanting more from yourself. If you cannot go any further at that point, take a break and look back positively at your progress."
ReplyDeleteI like this, as well as Galway and the process of change.
And all the factors which go into motivation.
"What do YOU think allows you to love yourself and love the process of change?"
I like to feel that I have control over the change not that the change is to control me. Or I like change and me to walk together not behind not ahead.