Balancing Act for the Physical Realm

Today I put on a pair of pants I had purchased for work at the beginning of the summer... and they were laughably large on me. They looked downright silly, but I wore them anyway because I don't have that many options (and I felt too lazy to change).

It made me quite happy, though, to have such tangible evidence that I have indeed been losing weight. And this is where my inner dilemma begins, because - after all - shouldn't I be able to be happy with whatever body I might have?

It's quite a dichotomy we face, particularly in Western society. We are told to love ourselves and embrace our bodies, but we are also shown images nonstop of sometimes frighteningly thin people with shiny, thick heads of hair and hairless bodies (male and female), with this airbrushed, body-as-career kind of "ideal" that is not at all realistic for the average, everyday man or woman.

Simultaneously, we're also bombarded lately with health information and doctors' admonishments to lose weight, eat healthy, and exercise. Mind you, this is a much more positive and constructive message... but it can sometimes conflict with the embrace thyself mantra one supposedly must be chanting in order to fully accomplish self-love and establish self-esteem.

So... where is the middle way, as the Buddhists might say? Perhaps a healthy blend of self-acceptance mixed with a happy and conscious decision to make changes based not upon others' expectations or ideals, but upon our own concept of who we are - or wish to be.

The idea of change, growth, evolution, or enlightenment exists in nearly every religion or spiritual practice out there. Although it is often applied within a spiritual context, why not also consider the ramifications for a similar journey via mental, emotional, or even physical aspects of self?

If such a thing is possible, and the notion of reaching toward a divine realization of self has a ring of truth to it... then perhaps what I am striving toward is a balance between the body that is mine in its truest form, and my ability to love and accept myself at each point along my path toward physical equilibrium.

Such a process could allow each step to be one of increasing joy, and might enable me to see the journey as something positive and beneficial, rather than a fight or struggle through which I become battered, discouraged, or frustrated.

It is easy to think of such things on a successful day - when the scale has gone down, the pants are loose, and the engagement ring long packed away is extremely close to fitting again. The challenge will be responding with the same sort of acceptance and enjoyment on days where the results differ from my expected and dearly wanted outcomes.

Impossibility

The story that caught my ear this morning on NPR was about the cyclone that hit Myanmar on Saturday. The death toll is expected to reach at least 10,000, and there are thousands of people with no homes, no place to go, and in danger of getting sick (or worse) due to contaminated drinking water.

Sometimes you'll hear people remark that things could always be worse... that there are always people who are worse off than you are - the logic being that you should therefore count your blessings and stop your grousing about your own discomfort or sorrow.

I prefer to reframe it a bit: There are always people out there who could use some prayers (blessings, good thoughts, good energy) as much or more than you can. There are always people in need of help, compassion, love, and good will - whatever spirit you are able to give them.

There really is so much suffering in the world, it is sometimes staggering to take in. And when a disaster like this occurs, it's overwhelming to realize how many individual lives will be forever changed by one crisis.

I see "elimination of all suffering" as an impossible task. Which does not mean is should not be attempted - quite the opposite. I think it's very important. Important to ruminate and meditate upon, important to discuss with one another and make part of a larger social discussion and collective consciousness, important to attempt throughout our lives in whatever way we can.

Sometimes impossible tasks are necessary. Cervantes called it tilting at windmills, the Buddhists call it enlightenment, and UUs have woven it into their seven principles, seeing it as inherently connected to broader human goals serving as a promise to all people.

To me, faith, belief, hope, and love are all tied to impossibility. They are all celebrations of finding possibility where none seemed to exist... particularly in the midst of suffering.