If The Shoe No Longer Fits

I’ve lost a lot of weight – 33 pounds. It took a while and there is more to go, but I’m two sizes smaller. I’ve been able to give away many of my clothes because they no longer fit. Here’s what happened when I resolved never to return to that size again.

 

 

It was so hard for me to buy clothes when I was heavier that I used to buy something just because I could get into it. How often do we accept second best because we don’t have the energy or time or will to hold out until we get the very best? What have you incorporated into your life that no longer serves your highest good?  What has changed that has altered your perception of what you want and need? Expect the best.  Do not settle for second best.

 

 

Who am I now? What do I represent? How do I feel about myself? What does that look like now?  I replaced only a few clothes because I’m going to lose more weight, but I chose those clothes carefully and consciously. Everything I bought was chosen to help me show up in the world exactly as I meant to – as the authentic me. Are you showing up in your life the way you want and need to? Look at yourself in the mirror of your friends and clients.  Do they see you as you what you want them to see you?

 

Way back when I was raising children I used to dress for disaster – old clothes that would allow me to mop up, pick up or do anything that needed doing. However, I am no longer raising children – they are raising their own – so why do I continue to dress for disaster?  That look translated itself into baggy sweats – old baggy sweats that were frayed around the cuffs. But hey, I’m a deserving person. I like myself. I get to dress for myself.  Maybe I go a whole day with no one seeing me but I see me as I pass by the mirror and I am dressed for success – at home success to be sure – but it’s no longer a dumpy I-don’t- care-about-myself look. It’s a busy home-based entrepreneur look.  What  old patterns are you unconsciously holding on to? What needs to change?

 

 

This was huge. I gave away a mountain of clothes – clothes that should have gone the way of the haven’t-worn-them-in-three-years path. I gave away box after box of stored clothing. My remaining clothes can actually hang without being crammed up against each other. But the lightness I feel personally is indescribable. It’s as if a huge weight has lifted, a chain has been cut, and a path has been cleared. What do you need to release so there is room to expand in the direction you want to go?

 

 

How lovely to put those clothes back in service – to pass them forward to brighten someone else’s life. Whether I donated to the Battered Women’s Shelter or the Thrift Store that cares for feral cats, these clothes will do what they are meant to do and be with who they are meant to be with. They pass forward into new service. What can you pass forward in your life that will put it back in more active service?

 

 

I can move now. I am no longer held down by my past. And by cutting the ties to what no longer fits or suits me I am free to move forward.  With each bag I hauled to my car to give away, with each empty hanger left in my closet, my sprit got lighter and freer. I feel excited and full of promise. I feel invigorated and energized. I feel free to move forward. When space is cleared, you have more time – more time for thought, more time for action, and more time for growth. 

 

 

I have resolved not to every return to that larger size. I simply won’t do it. I have started to smile at myself when I pass the mirror and wink at how healthy and self-confident and yes, attractive I look and feel. And all of this was because I let go of what no longer works for me. I let go of what is no longer needed or wanted in my life.

 

This is not an article about losing weight.  It is an article about making changes and letting go.  What no longer serves you? What have you outgrown? What person or repeated action in your life or your business needs to be released? What old habits are you ready to give up? What shoe no longer fits that you can give away…