Once upon a time, I had a class of students challenge me to wear a different outfit everyday to school for the entire school year. Not only did I do that for one year, but I did it for two. What does that say about me? I am pretty irresponsible when it comes to managing my money. Yeah...I just can't seem to make myself pay more than the minimum on my student loans, but take me to New York and Company, and all of the sudden I have turned into Lindsey Lohan at an open bar...
Needless to say, I have a lot of clothes. That challenge forced to me go through my closet, rip off four year old price tags (you know it's bad when you're taking off Goody's price tags), and dare to mix and match. I have spent the past year purging and donating in order to avoid the title of "hoarder" but there still seems to be an abundant amount. I can't help it...it is, or was, an addiction. I had to get my fix. Every woman knows what I'm talking about when I mention the adrenaline rush of a really good sale...uhhhh...especially when it's DAT (Day After Thanksgiving). I'm just saying last year those other fools didn't have a chance to get their Paula Deen Pots because I was sitting on the display...no lie.
This past year, however, I have had an epiphany (and yes, Lacey, that's a real word) when it comes to my clothes. As stupid as it sounds, I learned that the clothes don't make a teacher. I liked to dress the part, but more than that, I truly loved my job teaching high school. It's not that I felt like I had to dress a certain way in order to be good at what I did, I just used that profession to justify all of the outfits...oh the glorious outfits, and shoes!...gotta love the shoes! Take me as a teacher and take away all of clothes, what would you have? A lawsuit, of course! Dang...teachers get fired for less these days...geesh! Seriously, though, you'd still have me and all the energy I have to give to my students. So to break it down, my classroom awesomeness has nothing to do with my attire, but it has everything to do with me and what I bring to the table. Awesomeness doesn't have a "look."
Do you see where I'm going with this? Your level of bodaciousness doesn't have an outfit, a car, a haircut, a height, or a weight; it has everything to do with you being you...a positive you. A you that looks at the world as something possible; a you that doesn't get deterred easily; a you that will try something multiple times before judging it; a you that is true to you.
"Abigail, I know you, and you don't usually just talk about something for the sake of talking about it. How does this relate to our estrogen abuse?" Good question...
I can't tell you how many times I heard in my college years, "Oh, you're a dancer...or you dance? Hmm, you don't look like a dancer." "No, I don't, but neither do Umpa Lumpas, but they still get the job done." That was at the time I was my heaviest, so I didn't have the long, graceful body that dancer's are expected to have (nor do I have it now). But you know what, for my height and weight at the time, I could bust it out Umpa Lumpa style! I brought heart to every move I made, and I did my best. Even though my best wasn't the best...it was still 100% me.
I have met many who are terrified of starting that path to a healthy lifestyle because they feel that they don't have a look that matches the role. Oh, that makes my heart break. Or they feel that because they look a certain way they have to act a certain way. Oh c'mon, this is not high school anymore...let-it-go. Be true to yourself and adopt whatever healthy habit you want to adopt, don't worry about how you look doing it...within reason, of course. If you show up to yoga on crack while drinking a Redbull you might get a few side glances...but again the key word is healthy, and that doesn't sound too healthy.
This advice works in both ways, though. The idea that "dressing the part doesn't create the skill" goes for those who go overkill on their attire. Just because you see someone in the step class wearing leg warmers, shiny blue leggings, high top Reeboks, a g-string leotard over a hot pink sports bra, and a sweat band holding their feathered bangs in place doesn't mean that she's Suzanne Summers and knows all. Dressing the part kills me: "Oh yeah, I'm a runner. What? Didn't you see the sticker on my car that says 3.1. Yep, that's me. I ran a 5K four years ago...that's where I got this nifty t-shirt that I wear everyday when I'm not running, which happens to be everyday." or "Oh yeah, I do Zumba. I'm mean I've got the shirt, the pants, the shoes, the cds, fifty rubber bracelets, 60 facebook friends who do it, and next month's schedule of classes when I might actually start taking a real class. But until then, I'm just going to wear all of this cool gear and be one big false advertisement because I'm a cool kid..." (It's not being able to count to eight, it's what you do with an eight count...can I get a halleluiah!) I'm not dissing these individuals, but it is usually this type of person that scares others from trying something new. I was guilty of "fearing the outfit" when I went out for new activities, but that fear didn't affect anyone but me. I'm not saying that you shouldn't hold on to even the smallest accomplishments, I'm just saying don't let others and their accomplishments hold you back from yours.
I was holding myself back. I've seen others hold themselves back, and it's all because of a "look." If you have the drive, the energy, and the want to do something, then do it. It's really that simple. Do not let anyone intimidate you. Even if they are number one in that activity, then learn from them. Everyone who has ever started one of my classes all had something in common at one point: they all had a first day, they all had a first class, they all had a group of "firsts" that must be overcome.
So again, our superbaduberdeliciousness of a personality cannot be wrapped up in a look, an outfit, or a body type. I do advise you to show this side of you slowly when you begin something new. You can't just show everyone at once...they'll be too jealous. They'll be like, "Oh my gosh, I hope one day I can have an ounce of their superbaduberdeliciousness...just an ounce..." Don't go and scare everyone off your first day. Be tiger...prowl around, let them admire you, and claim your territory!
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