Wednesday, June 10, 2009

I'd Rather Be Chubby Than Thin and Unhappy

It's a big seller. The idea that if you could just lose that five to five hundred pesky pounds, you would find that gaping empty internal spot plugged and you could finally move on with your life. Your life can't begin while you're hauling that around. And if you try; and even if you succeed; no one will take you seriously because your fat will speak of your failure for you. You'll be given away before you've quite begun.

However.
That's advertising. And they don't really give a darn about your personal happiness- they'd just like you to fund them in pursuits of their own. So, they get pretty good at convincing you that if you'd just be skinny; then you'd be happy. It's just that easy.

Truthfully; people who are unhappy with chub are pretty much exactly the same when they sleek down. Maybe their unhappiness transfers a bit-- no longer is the fat holding them back from a happy and fulfilling life; but now something else has swiftly slid into position to make them yearn for better times and fuel their "if only"s. People can and do change their shape, but you find that the nice ones usually stay pretty nice; and that misery seems to haunt the miserable even in their size what-evahs.

Conversely, (Frighteningly), I still think the thin packaging does makes them more tolerable.

With all the clever marketing we've been subject to, we just expect thin people to be smarter, more pleasant, more worthwhile, more productive, more enviable. We put up with more filler because we're so sure that the really great stuff is just around the corner.

Of course, all that optimism is short-lived because for all the pretty packaging in the world, there's only so much agony we'll subject ourselves to. Still, it's disturbing how we're willing to make allowances for people in more acceptable bodies than for really great people with rolls.

Yeah, I'd rather be a little lumpy, have a few laughs, and enjoy my funny little life than be an anxious bone rack who is beginning to suspect that the great cookie jar (filled with handy 100 calorie snack packets!) at the end of the celery-and-pumpkin-peel-diet isn't all it's cracked up to be.







*You can hold me to absolutely nothing that I just said in this post. By tomorrow by 1:00 or 2:00 or midnight, I might tell you that there is absolutely nothing more important or endorphin boosting than losing some poundage. I may tell you most convincingly that if I could justlosesomeweight I would be soooo much happier! more interesting! successful! thin!

**This is probably also an excellent time to refresh everyone's mind that I am crazy.
Not a little bit; but totally, dangerously crazy.

12 comments:

Judy said...

I do remember a time when I could get out of a chair without resorting to making 'dad-noise', I do miss those days.

Other than that, I was just as happy then as I am now.

mmichele said...

Damn those 100 calorie snack packets.

Anonymous said...

does anybody ever stop at "one" 100 calories snack???? BBMN

Jenn said...

Last night I had a 100 calorie snack pack, followed by a bowl of chips, then another 100 snack pack. No, I am not kidding.

I guess what I really had was a 1000 calorie snack pack.

great post Joyce!

The Informal Matriarch said...

great post hun. It's so true...if only I were skinny I could take on the world. Big lie, hard to not believe it. I tell it to myself a million times.

bria erskine said...

I think that it's all about respecting your body and trying to make healthy choices. Sometimes I need to do yoga, sometimes I need to have a nap. Whenever I start paying attention to what my body needs without the drive to be smaller, I find that I am much more happy. I wish women would pay more attention to being healthy and confident than trying to be a waif. And yet (at 130 pounds) I still feel like I'm too big. Crazy.

Good post. Thx.

Anonymous said...

Oh yes, skinny sounds so nice -- and doesn't look bad either.... well, actually skinny doesn't look good at all -- I'd only ask for 10 - 15 lb. ----that's all, REALLY!!!!
Schwester Mary

Anonymous said...

celery-and-pumpkin-peel-diet
what a good line for the diets we have all tried....
IT is Saturday night and cheesies and wine by the fire..
be free Joyce, be free.
BB.

wm said...

I think people who are crazy are the most wonderful to know. just sayin' ;)

Jennie C. said...

I don`t really believe that losing weight will make my life all better. But I`d really be a lot more comfortable if my clothes fit. Seriously, the waist bands digging into my gut are killing me. And I`m too stubborn/frightened to go to the Sally Ann and by the next size up.

Linda said...

Crazy? Maybe. But you are in good company, me included.

Anonymous said...

size up... and celebrate.
or, what I work for... IT is just learning to find things you like in the new range!
moo moo dresses
.rockkin hot.
BB.