While it may be copyright infringement, I’ll take the risk and share books, podcasts and music that remind me, and hopefully you too, that you are enough. Right now, as you are.
Cadre. Hello, it is Shannon from allowed. Happy Sunday. Happy last day of 2023.
As we head into 2023, 2024 or any new year, there's definitely. I want to look better. So much of who we are can be tied up in our aesthetic appearances. Only profound self love will work union with that sacred, breath holding self.
Kadri: Anne Lamott's final line is yes. To better health and radical self care. We get to create a space where we, as a collective, go into 2024, and we say yes to naps, speak, wonder. Tomorrow is the beginning of a year where we're going to build this community.
Cadre. Hello, it is Shannon from allowed. I am in my car. Happy Sunday. Happy last day of 2023. Today's message is intentionally on today, the last Sunday of 2023, and we're talking about how we're all enough. And so this segment is about me sharing something from an author, music, some art, something that someone created in the world around this topic that was resonant and has been resonant with me in my own journey to believe that I'm enough. And so today, specifically, I'm going to read you a poem from Anne Lamott.
It's not a poem. I'm going to read you a piece from Anne Lamotte, who is a longtime writer. One of the things I love about her and why she's so perfect for this Cadre sphere that we're creating is that she's a faith based individual. I am not in a traditional way. Hey, Chris. Happy Sunday. And I love that. Like we're hoping to do here in this cadres fear we can come to the table with people who have different beliefs than we do and love each other and benefit from each other. So I'm going to read a piece.
I'm not going to say too much more. This is a long piece. This is particularly. It's for all humans, I think for women especially. As we head into 2023, 2024 or any new year, there's definitely. I want to look better. You know, so much of who we are can be tied up in our aesthetic appearances. And so I'm just going to read this, too. I'm not going to say much more, and that's what we're going to do today. So for anyone out there whose list of things on 2024 is God, I got to be better in my physical appearance.
I want you to listen to this, all right? We need to have the same little talk we have every year at this time. You want to feel healthier, and that's an excellent goal. But I know many of you are secretly planning to start a new year's diet. I don't want to be a buzz kill, but this newest one won't work either. I used to start diets, too. I hated to mention this to my then therapist. She would say cheerfully, that's great, honey. How much weight are you hoping to gain? I got rid of her. No one talks to me that way.
Well, okay, maybe it was ten years later, after she had helped lead me back home to myself, to radical self care, to friendship with my own heart and body, to a glade that had always existed deep inside me to mostly healthy eating, but that I'd avoided all those years by overachieving, dieting, binging, people pleasing, and so on. So now, when I decide to go on a diet, I say to myself, great, honey, how much weight are you hoping to gain? Here's what is true. Diets make you gain weight 95% of the time.
We gain it back, plus five pounds. We lose it. It finds us again and brings a few friends. I hate to say it, but only profound self love will work union with that sacred, breath holding self. And not a diet that forbids apples or avocados. Horribly. Horribly. But as usual, only kindness and grace, which is spiritual. WD 40 can save us. Can you put the scale away for the week? Okay, how about four days? I have been addicted to the scale, too, which is like needing Marjorie Taylor greene to weigh in every morning on my value as a human being.
Can you put away your tight pants? That hurt. Wear forgiving pants. The world is too hard on us as it is without letting your pants have an opinion on how you were doing. I struggle with enough esteem issues without letting my jeans get into the actual with random thoughts about my b***. It's really okay, though, to have to or pray for an awakening around your body. It's okay to stop hitting the snooze button and to pay attention. What makes you feel great about yourself? One meal and one walk at a time.
Unfortunately, that is another inside job. If you're not okay with yourself at 185 pounds, you will not be okay at 150, even 135, although America's $72 billion diet industry says otherwise. The self respect and peace of mind you long for is not out there. It's within. And I hate that. I resent it more than I can say, but it's absolutely true. There are ways to improve your health that do not harm your soul. Eat as healthily as you can, and maybe exercise a bit more. And make sure to wear pants that do not hurt your thighs or your feelings.
Doing a three minute every. Doing a three minute meditation every day won't hurt. Naps are nice, so I'll leave you with this. And again, for everyone joining. Hi, Luke. High speak wonders. So glad to see you guys. This is a poem. This is a piece that Anna Lamotte, a writer who I admire, puts out every New Year's Eve. And this is her last, her last reminder of how we can love ourselves and treat ourselves with respect and kindness as we head into this new year and how we think about ourselves. Yes.
Naps. Naps. Naps. Oh, my God. Speak, wonder. Yes. Naps. All right, so here's what she says. I will leave you with this. I've helped some of the sturdier women at my church get healthy by suggesting they prepare each meal as if they had asked our beloved pastor to lunch or dinner. They wouldn't say, hey, pastor, let's eat standing up in the kitchen. This tube of barbecue Pringles is all for you. I have my own. And then stand there gobbling from their own tubular container. No. They'd get out pretty dishes and arrange wonderful foods on the plate and set plates at the table.
Plates filled with love, pride, and connection. And that's what we have longed for our whole life. And that's what we get to create. And so, my friends at Cadre, her final line is yes. To better health and radical self care. Boo. To the lying scum diet industry. So that's her. Those are her words. Those are Anne Lamott's words. My words to you are that her last sentence? Right. We get to create a space where we, as a collective, go into 2024, and we say yes to naps, speak, wonder. And we say yes to not putting on pants that make us feel bad when we wear them.
And yes to taking care of ourselves and exercising it, but doing it in the spirit of connection and truth and honor. In the same way you would treat the president of the United States. It's probably a horrible example. I shouldn't have used that one. In the same way you would treat your pastor, in the same way you would treat those people who you most revere in your life. So as you head into 2024, I am working on this as well. I'm sitting here today without makeup on and my cool Cadre hat, but very intentionally saying, I am loving myself, and we are creating a collective place where we can come together and be ourselves and be beautiful versions of ourselves exactly as we are.
That's it. That's it. I hope everyone has a beautiful new year's Eve. Tomorrow is the beginning of a year where we're going to build this community more than you've ever seen before and where we're going to support each other. Chris, Luke, speak, wonder. We're going to talk to each other. We're going to be kind to each other, and it's going to make it be one of the most beautiful years that we've ever had. So that's what I believe. I'm glad to be a part of it. Thanks for listening to my story, and happy new year, everyone.
From Kadri. We will see you soon in the new year. Have a great day.
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