How I learned to love having a plump bootie, and pump up my guns (my call to my arms)!

A new friend made a hooping video progress post and did what a lot of us do…we put ourselves down a little, we say some derogatory things about the situation, or make excuses, and basically say all the faults we can think of, before someone else can throw them back on us.

Here was my response, “You’ve gotta give yourself WAY more credit! It takes a lot of dedication to stick to something–anything. Doing what you can, wherever, and however you can, makes you more creative and awesome. And posting a video takes way more guts than most people think! So kudos for all of that. P.S. I’m loving that have fallen in love with a body part that you didn’t like much before.”

When I wasn’t fond of my body (like really low thoughts), I decided to pick out ONE thing that I actually liked. One thing–something…anything. What I managed to come up with was my shoulders. Yep. Because it’s not a part most people think either “Wow” or “Ewwwww.”

Eventually…I even started to like my arms, because I had a goal. I wanted “Angela Bassett” arms. Back when she was prepping for her Tina Turner roll in, “What’s Love Got To Do With It,” she had this buff definition that I was so in awe of.

Arms were an easy enough thing at that time in my youth that I could do something about. At that time, I was very into martial arts (training and eventually earning my 4th degree black belt in Jeet Kune Do). I started doing push-ups, because that was a great way to help achieve upper body strength. And there were lots of people around me able to do them. We had fun with the endless creative varieties and constantly challenged each other. Low and behold, I liked my arms.

Eventually, as I started to rethink old negative thoughts, I started liking more parts of my body. With some effort…I even got to be proud of my tooshie.

When I was in high school, I was called “Big Butt” by a close family member. It humiliated me and made me feel awful, ashamed and vulnerable at the body part I just naturally had. One day, I had it as my frustration level hit the roof. I turned around and barked, “Where do you think I got this from?!” That shut them up for good, at least on that one. (Nowadays, the term “body-shaming” is a well-known thing. It wasn’t back then.)

Later, in college, there was a famous rap a song titled, “Baby Got Back” by Sir Mix-A-Lot. He exalted the desire to have some “junk in the trunk” with lines like, “I like big butts and I cannot lie” and “Shake that healthy butt!” So those of us with a derriere, did. Ever since then, I’ve been proud to have the backside I was blessed with. It’s part of my shape. And more importantly, it’s a part of me.

As I’ve matured in life, I’ve come to terms with many of the things I used to consider “flaws.” Do I love everything about myself? No. Could I improve on some things? Most definitely. Can I cut myself a little slack on my expectations of myself in more moments? Sure.

Bottom line (hahahaha, pun intended!)…life is a journey of growth and learning. Throw that in with a little self kindness and acceptance. Mix in a little love. And for extra brilliant measure, add some gratitude…because the very thing you think is aweful…someone else might actually either desire, or would trade places with you in a heartbeat to have that as a problem to deal with.

More recently, there was an online business summit where one guest speaker challenged the main guy to do 25 push-ups every day for 14 days. A whole bunch of people in the group took up that same challenge for themselves. I thought, what the heck…I used to be a push-up badass (yeah, I’m on a roll here!). So I tried pounding out those 25 easy push-ups. Woah. I could barely eke out 10. But, I knew, I’d already built up from nothing to something once before, so let’s do this!

Almost everyday, for several months now, I’ve been trying to meet, or somehow improve in the technique of my now ever-increasing goal. At this writing I’m up to 50 fairly decent push-ups. The last ones aren’t as strong or pretty as the first, or as great in form…but I’m improving that with time, practice, and actually doing the darn things! I remember that I could do 100 back in the day. Yeah, I’d like to crack that lofty number one more time. Plus it’s great training for getting Handstands! Another longtime goal of mine.

Angela Bassett arms, here I come! Again.

*****

~Che’ Rippinger is Hip The Hoopla‘s CHO (Chief Hooping Officer)/Owner/Founder and head humorist, with heart. She’s been hula hooping since 2008 and founded Hip The Hoopla in 2011 – while teaching, performing and making pro custom dance hula hoops. A dancer most of her life (30+years), Che’ has also been a humor writer/columnist, illustrator and cartoonist for The Denver Post and her Touché! Cartoons have been featured in PLAYGIRL Magazine.

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