This isn't my usual topic of conversation, but it's on my mind and I need to get it out of my head. More than that, I feel like this needs to be shared in general.
I've heard others complain about stretch marks from pregnancy and how embarrassed they were. On the flip side of these discussions, I've heard them referred to as "tiger marks" and they are proud of them.
To be honest, it also blows my mind.
I've had stretch marks since I was ten years old. I remember waking up one morning with red angry marks on my stomach and I asked my mother what they were.
She explained that they are stretch marks. More than that she explained that it was happening because my body was changing. I was becoming a woman and getting a figure.
She made it sound so common, so normal. That for over two decades, I assumed it had happened to everyone.
Shortly after this, I was talking with a friend who mentioned her stretch marks from growing so tall.
In my mind, stretch marks are associated with GROWTH.
It can be frustrating when we aren't looking for it, because growth and change is hard (anyone remember puberty or is it permanently blocked from your mind?) and often kind of just dumped on us when we didn't ask for it.
Maybe that's why we get so upset at seeing the growth our bodies are capable of?
Yes, I get that in the case of a skinny person suddenly gaining more weight and feeling unhealthy may not seem like a good thing, but our bodies often respond to the emotional issues taking place.
Take for example gaining weight during the pandemic. There was a lot of change going on. It was hard and frustrating and scary.
But in all of that change, where we aren't moving as much, maybe eating more, and our bodies cling to the calories because it's in "survival mode" isn't this an opportunity to grow in our ability to give grace? Not just for others, which oftentimes seems easier, but also for ourselves.
Additionally, doesn't weight gain give us another opportunity to grow? As someone who has never been considered small by any means, I have also put on additional weight that I'm not happy with. Due to my car accidents this year (there have been two), I've spent much of this year resting.
For the first time in my life, I'm taking my health very seriously.
I am eating healthier and "cheating" less- and for me this is defined by eating things that I know are harmful to my body. I have thyroid issues that are aggravated by dairy, refined sugar, gluten, etc. I can feel a difference when I don't put these things in my body.
Once again, I am beginning to work out and strengthen my muscles, and I'm doing it in a way that is maintainable.
This isn't about weight for me anymore, it's about my health. This is growth. This is multiple changes.
Truth be told, I've never really cared one whit about stretch marks. I've had them for a few decades. For others, they may be a sign that something needs to change. Or possibly that you have undergone changes. Perhaps they show a greater capacity for something in your life.
At this point, I'm not longer sure if my ramblings are making any sense.
However, I do know, that I felt the need to share a new perspective.
Growth is not a bad thing.
Signs of growth (including stretch marks) exist to remind us of that growth.
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