Summer is here and my swimsuit still doesn’t fit!

It’s that time again. Time to roll out the barrel … the barrel of fun in the sun. Yes, it is springtime – as if you couldn’t already tell by all the winter clearance sales. The advertisements boast of remarkable savings of clothing marked down to 99 percent off and, when you get there, the only thing you find is a leftover turtleneck sweater with one sleeve longer than the other.

So much for bargain hunting.

Spring flowers blooming, leaves budding and grown men and women all over America doing the same springtime ritual … rushing to the health club to shed those unwanted pounds before summer.

Now I am surely for good health, but I decided several kids ago and many stretch marks later to enjoy the extra pounds nature has given me. Well maybe my uncontrollable urge for chocolate gave it to me, but that’s neither here or there.

I would love to be fit as a fiddle and prance around in a swimsuit that doesn’t cover me from my neck to my knees. I have to admit I admire a woman who can still wear a bikini and a man who has Speedo’s in every color. However I have found that a sign of true confidence comes when you can look in the mirror and say: “I too can look like a supermodel if I can just hold my breath and tummy in for the six hours while we are at the beach.”

Seriously, I must admit I am in pretty good shape and I can still get into cute swim attire from time to time. But if you find yourself worrying over the 10 to 20 pounds you have gained since childbirth, or, for you men, your college ball days, put all of that to rest. We will never be perfect or as fit as we once were, but we can be satisfied with who we are inside.

If I were to suggest that you shed anything this spring, it would not be pounds. It would be bitterness, envy, strife, anger, low self-esteem or any other emotion that really does weigh you down.

Plunge into spring … and then spring into summer with a good attitude. That is something that will always fit.

Thanks for sharing.

Cassandraism: Your weight can go up and down; it’s important that your emotions stay steady.