Endurance Sports Wrecked My Body Image. Farming Saved Me.

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A refreshing read. While I of course don’t think every person with and eating disorder or body image dissatisfaction needs to high tail it out to a permanent life in the countryside, this article does validate an important point ...

After eight years of mental health work, teaching patients all varieties of mental ninja tricks, I came to the conclusion that sometimes what’s actually most needed is just to get up and change your environment. Can you sit there and take the pounding waves? Yes. Or just get out of the darn ocean!

Now there’s a fine line between walking away and avoiding. Big difference! (This is where a therapist can help tease these apart.) But when you step back and notice the amazingly hidden tsunami of societal influence and advertising all around us every day, you become less surprised that so many people are overwhelmed and struggling. You’re not weak. You may just be exhausted from the fight!

To paraphrase a quote: There is a time for peace and a time for war. The challenge is knowing the difference.

Take care and be well folks.