I’m back feeling totally rejuvenated after a beautiful holiday in Thailand with my family, where we hiked, danced, and swam for two glorious weeks. I even rode a jet ski, and I definitely had a mental image of what I looked like while I was doing it — my strong arms revving the throttle, long blonde hair blowing behind me in the wind as I smiled and whizzed past smiling on-lookers.
Reality check: THIS is what I look like when I’m riding a jet ski.
You’ve gotta be able to laugh at yourself, right? This photo has given my friends a lot of joy since I shared it on Instagram. And I’m ok with that. Hey world, here’s me on a jet ski. Whatever!
I can’t tell you how many people have told me they dread going on a holiday because of the thought of wearing bathers or sitting by the pool. I know what that’s like. I used to feel the same way.
But getting even better at embracing my body for what it can DO, not what it looks like, means holidays hit differently these days. Now, the only thing I worry about is how I’m going to fit all the experiences in, not what I’m going to look like. That’s because I make a conscious decision every day to focus on experience over appearance.
That doesn’t mean that I didn’t go out and buy some cute pinstripe blue shorts and get excited about holidaying my heart out in them (the key to the perfect holiday shorts is an elasticated waist, FYI.) And it doesn’t mean that I didn’t get excited about which earrings I’d pack. But I didn’t for a SECOND let my brain tell me I couldn’t have fun because of how I look.
And you know what? I had a hell of a lot of fun on that jet ski. And that’s all I’m going to remember.
