Humbled or Horrified?

Heart pounding with sweat dripping down my face, I grabbed for my water bottle as my legs slowed down. I love my twenty minute Peloton rides the mornings I can squeak them in before the daily chaos ensues. 

As class ends, Peloton shows you where you are on their “leaderboard”. I hate looking at this board along with the virtual high fives board (sorry, not sorry) during my class. Even though I close these boards while I ride, the leaderboard automatically pops back up at the end. It’s hard not to glance at the rankings as I close out the window on the touchscreen. I’m usually middle of the pack, but recently I noticed I was close to last. 

Hmmmm, I thought, as I wiped sweat from my body after an all out effort ride....that’s humbling. I don’t like feeling like I’m not good enough. My guess is that you, too, also don’t like this feeling yet tend to look for places where you don’t measure up. 

This got me thinking about all the other arbitrary measures that leave us feeling less than about ourselves and our worth because we’re “at the bottom”. Whether it’s an electronic scoreboard, a Fitbit or a friend/business/celebrity posting their post-COVID-I’m-still-beach-ready body photo, these compare and despair moments sting. 

Raise your hand if you compare yourself to others and feel like your body isn’t good enough? Ok, stop laughing….maybe, the better question might be, “have you ever felt like your body was good enough?”

One of the first places I send clients to improve on those good enough feelings about their body is social media. 

Do you feel horrified or humbled when you scroll through your social feed? Do you ask yourself these questions while you check out the latest “news”? 

What’s wrong with me? 

Why don’t I look like that?

I should be able to do that. 

I’m so pathetic/ugly/unlovable. 

If you answered yes, then it’s time to scrub your social media clean. 

Get out your virtual shampoo and remove the accounts/businesses/celebrities/friends who make you feel less than. I also recommend that you find/follow people and accounts who have bodies as big as or bigger than your body. 

Your body and brain don’t need messages that you’re at the bottom of the leaderboard. You need virtual high fives and reminders that you’re right where you should be along with other people who look like you.

You don’t have to love yourself as you scroll the web, you just want to let go of self disgust and the desire to change your body through dangerous measures like chronic restriction or yo-yo dieting.

A little humbling every now and then is part of life, but if you’re constantly comparing your body to people who are much smaller than you, you’ll constantly be disappointed. Instead of always looking to see where you don’t measure up, look for areas in your life where you are progressing or you’re showing up regardless of the outcome. 

It’s back to class for me tomorrow (Ally, Robin or Emma are my favorites). If I end up at the bottom of the “leaderboard”, I’ll still count that as a win..