One of THOSE Women... (Inspired by my sister Emily)

You know the ones. You see them around. Sometimes strutting proudly and other times just being normal, as if they are the average ones.

They are the ones in workout or outdoor clothing, flushed face, messy hair, bright eyes, sometimes sweaty still, or a little bit dirty. The ones who unabashedly waltz through the grocery store (or in my sister's case show up at your kids birthday party) unapologetic for their clear "I just worked out and it was awesome" appearance. The ones whose arm muscles flex when they grab the gallon of milk and calves are cut when they stand on tippy toes to grab something off a high shelf.

They make no effort to hide the fact that they are fit. They own more work out clothes than "normal" clothing. They know they don't  need much make-up, and frankly they don't have time to put it on anyway. They go to the gym to actually exercise, and not to flirt, and if you try to flirt with them,  trust me, you are not going to get anywhere. They hit the trails ready to challenge themselves, not to pick up a dinner date.

These women have different priorities. They would rather take time to attend to their health than to how their hair and nails look. They are learning, or have learned, how to manage themselves first, and then let those skills spread to other areas.

Admit it. When you see one of THOSE people, despite your initial thought of "Don't you shower after you work out?" you secretly, on some level, want to know how she does it. You wonder how it would be to have that confidence, that strength, that skin that looks ten years younger than it really is.

Once you decide that you are worth it, once your priorities shift and stay shifted long enough to realize that fitness is not a goal but a way of being, then you'll know. And then...you'll be one of THOSE people too.

(Side story: Last summer a whole bunch of my family was in town. There was a group of us that hiked up to a cave. My sister Emily was there with her two boys. Behind us on the trail were two women, one about our age, and one a little older. My sister ended up carrying one of her boys part of the way. One of the women behind us commented, "If my calves looked like that, I could carry a kid too!" But she wasn't especially kind in the way she said it. She was almost sneering. I didn't get it. My sister works INCREDIBLY hard to be fit and healthy. If this other woman worked as hard as her, she WOULD have calves that defined and strong. The attitude that fit people are somehow different, or something to be looked down on or not liked or trusted is weird to me, but I see it and hear it ever where. This society is set up to be wary of the fit and healthy. Like, they must be doing something extreme, or working with a plastic surgeon or blah blah blah to be THAT fit. Generally, I find that to NOT be true. Generally, it seems to me that people who lead a healthy life style don't need to do anything extreme. They just have different priorities.)