Owning It

 . . . whatever "it" might be.

I've heard myself repeating this phrase several times of late.  It's not a new phrase or a new idea.  It's been around for awhile.  For whatever reason, it has taken on new meaning for me, and I am in love with it.  I suppose it is just another path to acceptance, and I can embrace that.  I can own that.

Like most of us, I can bitch and moan about just about anything.  And I do.  I am not proud of that.  Some things need to be bitched about.  Littering, for instance.  But finances?  Politics?  Relationship status?  Bitching does nothing but make these issues seem more dire, more pathetic, more needy.  I am making a concerted effort to stop bitching about the things I can not change.  To own that, I have to accept truth and circumstance and karma.  I think I can do that.

Owning it takes effort and resolve.  But then, I think, it becomes second nature.  That is to say, once you own something, it eventually becomes a part of you, so you don't have to think about it anymore.  It just is.  This is my goal.

Perhaps an illustration would help?  I am short.  In my younger days, I think I topped out at 5'3".  I'm shorter than that now.  For more years than I can count, I wore "high heels" with one purpose in mind:  to appear taller.  Yes, I walked around on stilts, corns and callouses on my toes, pain in my arches, so that I could appear taller.   Why????  There are reasons, but none of them are good ones.  And judging by the footwear I see on many women today, nothing has changed.  In fact, I think it's gotten worse.

But for me, I was finally able to own the fact that I am short.  I think it was a year and a half ago that I had a wedding to go to, and I put on a pair of heels.  They hurt all evening long.  I have not worn heels since.  I am short.  I own that.  If you don't like me because I am short, oh, well.  It's that simple.

And here's what happened.  I no longer go around thinking about how short I am.  I am sometimes surprised when I see a picture of myself next to others who are taller.  Because when I am with them, I am not thinking about being short!  Am I making sense here?  Simply put, I am more than my height, my weight, my hair color, my shoe size, my IQ.  Take me or leave me.  I know who/what I am, and I own it.

In the spirit of lightening up this post, I am going to include a picture now:

Own it.