You Are Beautiful

You Are Beautiful

 

Recently I was sent a link from a very good article from Again Faster entitled “You Are Beautiful”.  Just like many of the other CrossFit affiliates, we have a larger community base of women as opposed to men.  This is why sharing this article is so important to me.

 

Some of you will recognize the Angel in the picture above.  When I first seen it, I felt every emotion I could possibly feel.  Keep in mind this picture was not photo-shopped at all.  Jen sent me this picture when Gabrielle was feeling a little ill.  

 

As you can see she literally looks like an Angel in this picture.  When we named her, we wanted her name to have meaning.  Gabrielle originated from the Hebrew language and means “Hero of God”.  In this picture she surely looks like a hero of God.  And she is my precious little Angel!

 

When you read the following article, think of little Gabby and all of the other girls growing up with the pressures society will put on them.

“If I were feeling a little more lawless, I’d gather all the copies of Cosmo and Seventeen, douse them in kerosene, and strike a match.  I’d throw in reams of print ads from Calvin Klein and watch with delight as Kate Moss’ stick-thin image was reduced to carbon.  I’d add copies of Shape and Runner’s World until the flames reached toward the heavens, and then I’d crank call the editorial desk at Muscle and Fitness until they stopped publishing pictures of women on steroids.

I’d get the master tapes of America’s Next Top Model and dub over them with “Nasty Girls”, broadcasting the results on every television station in America.  I’d skywrite “CrossFit.com” across the Boston skyline, and gently admonish the hoards of long distance runners trotting along the Charles River—with a bullhorn.

I’d take every woman with mass media-induced ideals of beauty, and I’d show them what it really means to be beautiful.  

Beautiful women are strong and powerful.  They are athletes, capable of every feat under the sun.  They have muscles, borne of hard work and sweat.  They gauge their self-worth through accomplishments, not by the numbers on the bathroom scale.  They understand that muscle weighs more than fat, and they love the fact that designer jeans don’t fit over their well-developed quads.  

They know that high repetitions using light weights is a path to mediocrity, and “toning” is a complete and utter myth.  They refuse to succumb to the marketers that prey on insecurity, leaving the pre-packaged diet dinners and fat-burning pills on the shelf to pass their expiration date.

Beautiful women train with intensity.  The derive self-image from the quality of their work and their ability to excel.  They don’t wear makeup to the gym, and they wouldn’t be caught dead with a vinyl pink dumbbell.  They move iron, they do pull-ups, they jump, sprint, punch, and kick, and they use the elliptical machine—as a place to hang their jump rope.  

They spend their weekends in sport, climbing walls, winning races, and running rivers.  They laugh as they sprint circles around the unschooled, turning the image-obsessed into benchwarmers.  Beautiful women don’t care if they’re soaked in sweat and covered in dirt, if their nails are chipped or their hair out of place.  They care only about quality of life.  

Beautiful women are happy, healthy, and strong, and they’re right there beside me, tossing conventional beauty on the ever-growing flames of what used to be. 

Be beautiful.”

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Comments

[Bill]

Great article!!! As a husband to a true dedicated crossfitter the article means a lot to me. I remember when Carole would worry about things as Jean sizes and things yet now she is proud to state that the waist is to big yet she can not get them over her thighs because of her workouts. You are right, beautiful women are happy, healthy and strong and to Carole, my beautiful wife, and all the other women of crossfit Michiana, I have worked out in many different gyms where men dominated the room and I am proud to say that I work out beside all of you and you would put 99% of the men I worked out with in the past to shame. Have a great day everyone.

[Tara]

awww, Bill you just made me cry! I have read this article so many times I could recite it in my sleep! When I first read it I thought "I want to paint this on my basement walls!!" I will have to settle for revisiting the article as many times as humanly possible. It is so empowering. Thanks for posting it Jim!

[Doc]

Thats pretty cool. I've never cared much for women but that gives me a reason to re-investigate them. I'll start out with my lovely wife who has found she has a drive that was undiscovered. She has gained so much strength both physically and mentally, and completely changed her body--and is showing no signs of stopping. Here is to all of you women that sweat with us boys every day.

[Fay]

Wonderful post! I feel compelled to share something very personal (although a few know about it).

Unfortunately there was a time in my life when I gave into the "beauty" our society portrays. It was something (anorexia) that stuck with me for MANY years and got me down to the size 2 I thought was beautiful and sexy!

Although I started eating again and being less of a cardio bunny it wasn't until this past July (my first month of CF) when I was truly able to let go of my image obsession and that is something that I never thought would happen and it's priceless!

I go to CF and I work out as hard as I can and when I'm done I rarely think wow now I'm one size closer to a size 2 again! Instead I think Holy Crap the rips in my hands from doing kipps are SWEET! At my old gym I worked out for one thing and that was to reduce the size of my hips/butt/thighs, etc. I love working out to get one more kip or run that mile a little faster next time b/c those are things that truly matter and are beautiful! I know I'm working toward a stronger core and one of my fav. quotes:

"I have thunder thighs.
And that's a compliment
because they are strong
and toned
and muscular
and though they are unwelcome
in the petite section
they are cheered on in marathons.
fifty years from now
i'll bounce a grandchild on my thunder thighs
and then i'll go out for a run."
~just do it.

Although physically I'm not where I want to be with bodyfat, etc., I'm now mentally where I should be and I owe it all to CF and the wonderful people I'm surrounded by on a daily basis!

Here's to all the beautiful CF women!!

[Carole]

Beautiful-

Thank you Bill!

I first read this post when Tara had sent it to me in an e-mail. I cried my eyes out because it described the "old" me and the "new" me. I am so happy to be the "new" me. My first thought was "we have to hang this in the gym surrounded by pictures of all of the beautiful women at CF Michiana."

I have read this several times now to my daughters:
I have two beautiful daughters that I am trying to raise in a society where every ad of women are pencil thin and men are "googling" at them with their tongues hanging out. Every TV show, commercial, magazine ad, etc....portrays what America would seem to be "beautiful women." I tell my girls daily they are beautiful- no matter what they look like, no matter what clothes they wear, no matter what grades they get---because their beauty is within.

It is the way they treat people that are different than they are. It is the way they smile at everyone whether they are white, black, orange, tall, fat, skinny, short. It is in every action that comes from their body that shows their beauty. It has nothing to do with what they look like on the outside- if all is right on the inside-in their heart then they are BEAUTIFUL!

I want my girls to grow up strong yet soft and valuable to the person they are with. I want someone to look at them and see their beauty by actions and not looks.

It takes a village to raise our children now with everything that is out there. I am grateful to have found CF when I did because I didn't always think this same way.

Thank you Jim from the bottom of my heart for teaching me that beauty and strength comes from within and permeates outward to everyone you encounter on a daily basis. Without CF I would never have "thought" this way. I tell people all the time that CF not only changed my physically but it awoke an entirely new person inside of me. Someone I always thought was in there but never let out...

Here's to all the beautiful women I see at CF Michiana every day. Thank you for inspiring me to be my very best!

[karen graham]

Wow! These posts that I have read following Jim's "Beautiful" are so inspiring and amazing that I am also in tears!! Although John and I may not have daughters (3 boys is also quite a challenge) I can relate so much growing up with a sister one year older and having so much peer pressure to look better than the other!! I so agree with Carole that beauty comes within and the strength we find within ourselves will guide us through life with confindence!! I so thank Crossfit for making me the person I am today!!

[Joleen]

WOW, I can hardly see what I'm typing for the tears in my eyes. Not only were the picture and article amazing, the posts are so uplifting. I am sooooo proud to be a part of this Crossfit family and look forward to continuing to be the best me I can be.

[Schantel]

It is so nice to read something that makes us women with curves feel good about what we have and that being stick thin is not sexy. I hope more people get a chance to read this article and share it with there daughters, because real beauty truely does come from within.