I had an experience this morning that hasn't really happened to me in probably a year and a half, and strangely enough, I realized I missed it. Not sure how to explain it, but I'ma gonna try.
I was sitting on the bench at the gym waiting for my son to come out of the locker room, when I spotted a former neighbor (ish) of mine.
I probably haven't seen her for 5, 6 maybe 7 years. A while. Any-who, she's kind of like Dick Clark in the sense that she never ages and she always looks fabulous. ALWAYS!
I waved at her and because she's very polite, she smiled and waved back. Then she looked away, and then looked RIGHT back and came rushing over.
"OH MY HECK! I DIDN'T EVEN RECOGNIZE YOU! I thought, what a cute girl to wave at me, and then I realized it was you!" (And then she stammered and stuttered a little when she said, "I mean...you've always been a cute girl but you look so great!")
Let me try and explain why I've missed that sort of interaction with people.
Heartfelt, specific and unexpected compliments can really make your day! Mine was made this morning at the butt crack of dawn which made getting out of bed on my day off of work, Sooooo worth it!
And especially if you are like me and are an introvert and are almost terrified of people and public places, a compliment from someone gives you the guts to get out in the world. Weird. I know.
But it has taken years of practice for me to even ACCEPT a compliment and not down play it. And now that most people I come in contact with, have seen the weight loss and are use to the improved version of myself, I look the same to them, thus, no more compliments. Which is ok. But I realized I've actually missed it. I guess a compliment gives me the umph and the desire to keep going and I've been in a funk lately, so this was a much, much, MUCH needed boost!
Funny. I used to be the one that refused to let people tell me how fabulous I was looking. Now I'm telling you I miss that. By downplaying a compliment, where did that leave me? It left me with abusive junk I would swallow.
"They're just being nice."
"I still need to lose 3 pounds."
"I combed my hair today. That's the difference they see."
All of this was calorie free junk, but I still swallowed it and although that junk is a different sort of junk I was feeding myself, it was still VERY detrimental to my overall health and wellness.
When we look into a mirror, most of the time we look at our eyes first, right? The eyes are a reflection of the soul. My soul didn't gain or lose weight. Everything else is secondary to who I am on the inside. I AM ME! Even after losing the weight (which NSV to me, this is the longest I've been able to keep of any sort of weight loss and it's been 2 1/2 years since reaching my goal) I rarely SEE a physical change so I FEEL like the same person (which I AM!). I FEEL more of a change, than SEE a change and I have to tell you, it's a wonderful FEELING to be in touch with "who I am" on the inside rather than "who I'm not" on the outside. FEEL me?
I'm embarrassed to admit this... while walking up on campus a month or so ago, I saw my reflection. But I didn't know it was my reflection. I thought I had a creeper walking right next to me. Turns out I was the creeper and this was one of the rare times I didn't recognize myself. Ha! And yes, the remainder of that walk through campus had my chin a bit higher and I think there was a smile across my face. Introvert no more. For that instance anyway.
