A Beautiful Work In Progress

by Mirna Valerio

I despised the book from the first page, but unfortunately I was at a point in my life in which finishing what I started reading was an absolute necessity. I’ve become wiser since then.

YES...I no longer finish books I don't enjoy!

My message for anyone who is in middle school or who knows someone in middle school (please share this with them) is simple: Your body, whatever its size, whatever its hair color and hairstyle, however its height, whatever its age, is acceptable. Your body is acceptable just the way you are.

If we were to break it down to its simplest form, body positivity encompasses the idea that “all bodies are good bodies.”

But who determines health and fitness? For too long, many in the medical field have held human bodies to the standard of the body mass index (BMI). Although this metric can be helpful in determining if someone may be prone to a certain weight-related health issue because of his or her individual body ratios, the index is not an accurate measurement of degree of health. At best, it’s an eyeball judgment, a calculated guess, an assumption.

This body isn’t meant to stagnate or cease moving. When we stop moving in mind, body, and spirit, we stop learning. When we stop learning, we stop living. Therefore, when we stop moving, we stop living. We stop evolving toward being the humans we are destined to be.