A Dozen or So Bathing Suits to Try On

It’s that time.
I need a new Bathing Suit.

I’ve always been a bit of a Bargain Hunter.
Not one to purchase clothes in a new Season as they are introduced at Full Price.
More often I shop a Season behind…
Autumn Clothing when it’s on sale in the Winter.
Bathing Suits in August.
Summer Clothing in the Autumn…

And so, Finding myself in downtown Seattle for a handful of Joyful Reasons,
Off to MACY*s I go.

BENJAMIN PROUD, training for the 2016 Olympics

Now, buying a New Bathing Suit has never been for me how I imagine the experience is for BENJAMIN PROUD or TOM DALEY.
I lack their “V” where the Lower Abs meet the Hip Flexors
(and Would that were the only difference between us!)
I’m at an Age where the “V” has become more of a “Q” or an “S” or a “Why?”

TOM DALEY, Olympic Diver (Photo by Clive Rose/Getty Images)

I tried on every suit with potential for a man of my age and shape.
I am particularly amused by the Board Shorts cut for the SEAN JOHN Models.
I’m 5’9” — OK, 5’ 8 and a Half” …There isn’t a pair of those that don’t make me look like I’m trying to be Olivia Palermo in a pair of Culottes!
And really, I just want to go to the Beach, and Enjoy the Magnificent Ocean.
Why can’t we all just be Naked and Skinny like the Europeans?

I finally found a simple pair of black elastic waist bathing trunks.
They were the only pair in the store that wasn’t on sale —
something to be said for Classic over Trendy, perhaps?
I bought ‘em.
I’m done.
I’m ready for the Beach!

Nope

I remember when I was a little boy at a Family Picnic and I asked my MOM how come she didn’t wear a bikini like other girls at the Beach.
To a 6-year old boy, his Mommy is the most Beautiful Girl in the World.
MOM laughed, as did my Aunts who were also all in one-piece bathing suits at the time, all having passed forty.
But in my innocence, I thought Everyone was Beautiful!
I still think so.

The Winner

In the Sixties, we had an expression:
“God doesn’t make Junk!”
And I find it hard to believe that GOD doesn’t look down on me and TOM DALEY and YOU and ANGELINA JOLIE and GABOUREY SIDIBE and BERNIE SANDERS and MALALA YOUSAFZAI and JANE GOODALL and WILL DEMPS and all the Rest of Us
And see each of us as an Individual Beloved BEAUTIFUL Creature of the Universe
In Whom He is Well Pleased.

Sure! It is Easy to Appreciate the Beauty of a Twenty-something Olympic Diver.
The Beauty of our own Bodies may lie somewhat less immediately apparent.
But it’s There!
The Question is: Can we cultivate the ability to see the Beauty of this Vessel
Created through our own Life Experience?
Is it possible our own Bodies can leave us feeling the same Delight that we feel
when we gaze upon a nubile Olympic Athlete?
Perhaps it is not our first response.

But if we look long enough
And hard enough
And with enough Appreciation —
There’s that Gratitude thing again! —
We comprehend Something Beautiful There.
Twenty-something Athletes are supposed to Look the way they do.
They are Fresh New Blossoms!
We are Ripe!
Ripe is Sweeter
And More Delicious!
They will Ripen with time, as well.

Let us give to ourselves the same Affection, Gratitude and Delight we so readily surrender to those So New.
Let us Appreciate
All the Living that has brought us into our current Body
All we’ve been through
All that we have
And Who We Are
In this Present Moment
Joyfully!

So the next time you’re buying a Bathing Suit,
Or Looking in the Mirror,
Or trying something on,
Or scrutinizing yourself,
And feeling like in some way you’re just not Good Enough…

Know this:

You are BEAUTIFUL!
You are a BELOVED CHILD OF THE UNIVERSE
In Whom the Universe is Well-Pleased!

Now, Get out on the Beach
Stand in the Ocean
Wearing Nothing at All if You Like
Embrace the Day
And Celebrate the BEAUTIFUL BEAUTIFUL HUMAN BEING that You Are!
…SHINE!

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