Gratitude #28: The Minion-Hat Jogger Lady.

I was ready for a walk this morning. We've been under the weather the past couple days and this morning we were all feeling pretty good again, and I was truly antsy and ready to exercise.

One problem... my jeans were in the wash, and I'm low on exercise pants that fit me of late (crazy thing about losing weight... your clothes don't fit anymore... because they're too big for you. Weird, right? I've never really had that problem before), and all I had were my outlandish neon-wild skinny-fit flower pants, combined with my Mickey Mouse hoodie, a striped scarf, some wooly socks, frizz-tastic curly hair and no make-up... wow, I looked eccentric. Combine that with the fact that Charlie was still in his Dino PJ's, and we haven't bought him mittens yet so I put some extra long white-socks over his hands, and donned a crocheted elf hat on his head to keep his noggin warm... we looked quite the pair.

To be totally honest, I doubted whether I should go walking for a minute or two. I looked funny.

But my gumption and need to move won out.

And guys, I'm really grateful I got out there. About 20 minutes into our walk, another mom came jogging past me, gave me a great big smile and a "hello!" And went on her merry way. And you know something? She was wearing a bright yellow minion hat, a shiny teal jacket, and some brightly colored socks. And her daughter in the stroller in front of her was wearing a gold jacket atop her own PJ's, and a unicorn hat besides.

Her confidence gave me strength.

Ladies, whatever your look, own it & move forward with confidence. I'm grateful for the minion-hat-jogger-lady and all the other confident (but not cocky) people out there who inspire me and teach me to love myself more.

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