Do You Have Your Own Cheerleader? #GoodNeighbor

My Best Friend #GoodNeighbor

This has been a big year for me. My son started middle school, which just doesn’t seem real to me, because wasn’t it just last year he started Kindergarten? Sigh. Time really needs to slow down.

And speaking of time and moving too fast… I turned 50 this year. It still sounds a bit weird to say it out loud.

I have to say that being fifty hasn’t been bad, though. In fact, fifty is pretty darn good. I know the biggest reason I’m embracing 50 so easily is because of my friend, Stacie. Her moral support and encouragement has been priceless.

See I had my son later in life so it has been incredibly difficult to lose weight. My weight has been a real issue for me over the past 10 years. I don’t didn’t like the way my body looked. I don’t have the body I did when I was a teenager, or my twenties, or even my thirties.

I started letting the way I saw myself when I looked in the mirror affect my outlook on everything.  Don’t get me wrong, my husband and son tell me I’m beautiful, but… they’re my husband and son. Of course my Mom thinks I’m beautiful, but what mother doesn’t think her child isn’t beautiful? But I needed to get to a place where I saw my beauty again.

Last month I talked with my friend and told her I was going on a sugar detox because I want to lose weight and get healthy. She was supportive (as usual) and even encouraged me to go walking with her. It was on one of these walks recently that she said something to me that had a profound affect on me, and I know she doesn’t even know it.

I was actually telling her about how I am self-conscious about a certain physical feature and why… and she said (and I’m paraphrasing here) that she didn’t know what I saw when I looked in the mirror, but when she looked at me, she saw a beautiful woman and knowing me and my heart, just made me even more beautiful. Okay, I’m tearing up just writing this.

Yes, she is my friend and maybe she was just being nice, but I really felt she was speaking from her heart. She was being truthful.

I am so grateful to have a friend who encourages me to get healthy to be the best me I can be. A friend who lifts me up and has my back. It’s like having my own cheerleader — my own cheering section. She gives me great advice and inspires me to want to be a better mom, wife, daughter, and… friend.

Thank you my beautiful, sweet friend for always being there for me!

Do you have your own cheerleader?

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Disclosure: Compensation was provided by State Farm via Mode Media. The opinions expressed herein are those of the author and are not indicative of the opinions or positions of State Farm.

22 Comments

  1. Donna,

    You are so very fortunate to have Stacie as your cheerleader. She is also very fortunate to have your friendship. I must tell you that when I look at you, I see a very beautiful, caring woman with a lot of class and a heart of gold! Turning 50 is not so bad (I do remember). Good luck on your quest to be a healthier and more self confident person!

    Patricia Simmons

  2. Your friend sounds like a wonderful person, and you are both beautiful inside and out…why are we women so hard on ourselves? We do and offer and give so much, but we obsess over a small flaw…we are so silly 🙂 And a friend that is your cheerleader rocks!

    1. YOU are beautiful and absolutely right that women second-guess themselves too much. I’ve gained a LOT of weight since college, but I’m about the same weight I was in my 30s when I still had confidence to spare. Lately I’ve been feeling unattractive and not wanting to go out much, but I know it’s ridiculous and I need to give myself permission to be imperfect, so to speak. Just like Stacie, you’re a good neighbor, Penelope, to cheer Donna on and leave words encouragement for all. So many times society pits women against each other. To read something so sweet from a woman so young and beautiful just made me smile. We’re all plagued with unrealistic expectations, but we can support each other and try to change things for the next generation.

  3. It’s such a blessing to have your own cheerleader because we all need that moral support. But if we don’t have that person we have to encourage our self on a daily basis

  4. It’s such a blessing to have your own cheerleader because we all need that moral support. But if we don’t have that person we have to encourage our self on a daily basis

  5. I have a great friend like that but she doesn’t live in my neighborhood. It would be nice if she did

  6. What a great friend you have. Sometimes you just need that, you know? A little reminder that can just move mountains!

  7. Aww, what a sweet sentiment. I think it’s so important to have a cheerleader in your life, but also to be somebody’s cheerleader!

  8. You are incredibly lucky to have such a supporting friend! I have multiple “cheerleaders” though I will admit that I wish I had closer friends. Most of my “cheerleaders” are infrequent due to distance and their own busy schedules. I get most of my support from my husband and online friends. Hoping one day I’ll find more friends and more “cheerleaders”! 🙂

  9. You wear your 50 years (if that is true) beautifully. I was 33 three weeks ago and now I am 63…where DID the time go

  10. For me that would be my husband. How great that you have found such a loving and supportive friend that truly loves you for who you are!

  11. My husband is my biggest cheerleader. He’s been my best friend for 21 years and is always honest with me (even when I don’t want to hear it, lol!) – so when he tells me something to encourage me I know he’s not “just saying words” but that he truly is saying what he means. It’s so great that you have a girlfriend like this to encourage you!

  12. What an awesome friend! I feel similar to you, I turned 40 this year and I seriously need to loose some weight and have such a hard time.

  13. I need a cheerleader. Thanks for sharing!

  14. I think my boyfriend is my forever cheerleader. The kind of thing your friend said to you is what he’d say too. And your friend was right…you are beautiful, Donna — in and out.

  15. I have to say that I am really blessed. I have a bunch of good friends that are my cheerleaders.

  16. You are so blessed to have such an amazing friend. My sisters are my cheerleaders. Even though we are spread throughout the country, we still talk every day.

  17. If you two gorgeous ladies feel insecure, there’s not much hope for the rest of us. LOL But seriously, I know many women who I think are stunning who beat themselves up about minor appearance problems all the time. Like Stacie, we can all support and reassure each other because all of us really are beautiful, in one way or a hundred. We just have to have our eyes opened so we can see, and that’s what Stacie’s doing for you as a truly great friend.

  18. A good friend that is supportive, comforting and gives to a friendship as well as takes, is just so hard to find. I am happy to hear you have someone so special in your life.

  19. thats very sweet it great to have support

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