I Love My Body Enough...

 I love my body enough.

 I love my body enough to see it as my friend.

I love my body enough my heart hurts to see it struggle

with the slow degeneration and growing dysfunction.

I love my body enough I don't really mind that it is starting to look the way it does -

or at least, I'm learning to let go of the pride I had

in looking the ways that made me feel "acceptable".

I love my body enough that I try to do what I can to be as healthy as it can be,

such that it is, despite the circumstances limiting me.

I love my body enough when I see my parents in the mirror,

for better and for worse, like it or not.

I love my body enough that I'm grateful that it has given me a life

that up until shortly after I started having symptoms,

I was able to do things some others could only dream of.

I love my body enough in that it still has the ability to connect with others...

I feel that bodies are simply the way we let each other know we exist,

and that applies to me as much as anyone else.

I have learned to love my body enough,

though there have been times I have loathed and resented it

in ways that I can't even begin to express...

but have come to accept it and live with it as a friend, rather than an enemy.

I love my body enough, and know that one day

it is quite possible that I will miss it as it currently is.

I love myself for being able to have come to the point

I can say these things without reservation, and what a gift that has given me!

I love you, too,

and hope that whatever ways you can come to love your body enough,

you will choose to try.

        Better days ahead, my friends!