A Body That Never Quits…

Yeah, I have one of those bodies.

You know, when people say, “She has a body that never quits…”

My body never quits.

It never quits acquiring a few more wrinkles… a few more creaks and crackling noises in the joints… a few more gray hairs.

What?!

That isn’t what they mean by the saying, “She has a body that never quits…”?

Oh well.

I’m going to live in my skin, not get tripped up by the obvious reality that time waits for no one.

I am going to embrace and celebrate that I am more than my mortal body.

A body that never quits?

Yeah, I have one of those bodies.

It never quits reaching for the people who’ve wrecked my heart. In a good way.

It never quits arousing the man I married.  My fingernails and fingertips that never stop caressing. And my skin that is never quite satisfied with enough of him next to me.

I have eyes that never stop lighting up when I hear the sweet familiar voice of anyone who has seen the caverns of my soul. The depravity of my humanness.

And yet still loves me.

A body that never quits?

Well, I can’t run like I used to.  And my stomach… well… the babies nixed the hope that it will ever be as flat as it was when I was 20.

So be it.

I have a body that never quits being real, echoing with whispers of how fleeting life is.

Better make the most of it. In this body that never quits.

A body that never quits?

I never quit discovering what it means to bring my husband to the edge of ecstasy. There’s real power in that, you know — passionate, intimate, vulnerable power — in this body that never quits.

A body that never quits?

This body that never quits has soothed the aches of my little boys, who are well on their way to being men.

This body that never quits has held the hands and brushed back the tears of friends who have seen unfathomable tragedy and loss.

I awake with a bad knee and soreness in the bottom of my foot and skin that isn’t as glowing or soft as it once was.

I glance at youthfulness and stunning physical beauty in those who seem to know just what to wear, just how to carry themselves, just how to fix their make-up and style their hair.

I fault them none.

Instead… in this body that never quits… I find myself indebted to the years I’ve lived.  What they’ve taught me.

The wisdom I’ve gathered along the way, like scooping up remnants of fabric with its textures and faded hues. And saying to myself, “I had no idea a life of ordinary could be so remarkable.”

A body that never quits?

Yeah, I have one of those bodies.

A body that understands arousal and one-fleshness and profound emotional nakedness in a way that I just couldn’t grasp years ago.

Sacred territory, I tell you.

A body that never quits?

It never quits facing with confidence the truth of growing older… because really… isn’t it just futile to argue with what the mirror clearly confirms?

I’m no longer taunted by it, though.

I have a body that never quits seeking safe haven of authentic relationship.

Claim it our humble privilege
To never journey the landscape alone
How good it is to be ravaged by love
How reassuring to be known

A body that never quits?

Second chances are rare.

Maybe a better game plan is to look into today and courageously start living there. Fuller. More compassionately. With keener awareness of what’s at stake.

A body that never quits?

What are you going to do in your body that never quits?

For more reading on overcoming body image struggles, check out these posts:

3 Ways to Like Sex (When You Hate Your Body)

Are Body Image Struggles Destroying Sex in Your Marriage?

Feeling Beautiful Beneath the Sheets

Body Image: The War Between Feeling Shame and Finding Freedom

The Secret to Stopping the Body Image War

Who’s On the Losing End of Your Body Image Battles?

Copyright 2013, Julie Sibert. Intimacy in Marriage Blog. Links may be monetized.

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