The end of innocence

Yesterday, the weather was nice.

If you are from America, Australia or any other more sun privileged region this may sound like a trivial event, an irrelevant statement. Not so here. To native Londoners, good weather preempts a mass exodus from work, meetings and schools to head for the nearest park.

When the sun in shining, the British will drop EVERYTHING in order to receive a rare dose of vitamin D.

So, following the herd and with suncream in hand, myself and Alex headed to the local park with our youngest boy, where we knew there was an outdoor paddling pool.

We unpacked our gear to settle down for the afternoon and proceeded to put swimming trunks on our three year old. He refused. We took a look around the pool – two to four year olds as far as the eye could see and not a single one in the nude.

We couldn’t send our little boy out into the wilderness being the only one with his ‘little boy’ out.

“You have to put your swimming trunks on, everybody else is wearing them”

I said, desperately trying to convince him of the benefits.

Oh dear. There it was. I said it. EVERYBODY else is wearing them. He didn’t want to wear them, but in our infinite wisdom we decided he should because everybody else was.

That was the moment I ceded control to a three year old boy and decided he knew best after all.

As he played without a care in the world, I worried that unsavoury onlookers would single him out, concerned that I was shining a spotlight on my little boy playing in the sun.

That is the unfortunate and cold reality surrounding innocence. It needs an onlooking, aware presence to keep it safe.

If we are to keep others safe, we must lose our own innocence. We must become aware.

The day we lose our innocence is a very sad day.

They say that everything has a price tag. The heavy price tag hidden neatly around the back of awareness….is AWARENESS.

On the same day we take a glance around and suddenly realise we are the only one that is naked, we also realise we aren’t as tall, skinny, athletic, intelligent, funny etc etc…we start to compare our own traits to the traits possessed by others.

Curiosity may have killed the cat, but comparison killed the joy!

“Comparison” is our arch nemesis, our biggest foe and our deadliest opponent in the fight to achieve a life of health and body confidence…

Comparison stands in the way of success like a great knight guarding its king. It is a defiant barrier to progress and a great wall blocking the route to results.

How do you navigate your way around comparison? We stop comparing…but is this even possible, I hear you cry?

Yes. We’ve done it before, effortlessly and without thought, in the infancy of our lives.

Once upon a time the thoughts and traits of others were not a consideration…they were an irrelevance that had no place in your quest to enjoy life.

They remain irrelevant.

Exercise for YOU. Workout to look the best YOU can. Be healthy to achieve what YOU are capable of.

Be who YOU are and be the best version of that person.

Maybe everybody else is wearing clothes and you’re naked. Who cares?