Revisiting my challenge

This is a difficult post to write. It is a continuance of my August 20th blog entitled, "A challenge" where I wrote about how I planned on wearing a dress to the NEDA conference that revealed a part of my body that I often keep covered (my chest).

My experience in living in this dress for an entire day was less than ideal. I realized--of course after the fact--that it would have made more sense and been more appropriate to wear the challenge dress to the Thursday night opening social. Friday was the day I knew I'd be introducing myself to new people and talking about new offerings from Andrea's Voice Foundation (an educational eating disorder curriculum and an effective and valuable "Family Week" talk for treatment centers).

Usually, when I want to be perceived as "professional" I make sure to dress the part. The disconnect I experienced at the NEDA conference was that I was attempting to conduct professional business in casual attire. The complication that added to my intense feelings of discomfort was that I have never in my life worn a dress like this and I felt very exposed and vulnerable.

What a fiasco! If it hadn't been for a very kind colleague who made sure to introduce treatment center representatives to me, I may not have met even one new person. My energy was spent in making myself stay in the dress (partly because I had nothing to change into--I packed light) and engaging in lots of positive self-talk.

I relearned a couple of important lessons:  1) When embarking on a challenge for the first time it is important to have a friend at one's side. 2) When intending to conduct business, especially when it is something you have never done before ("self-marketing" is a whole new arena for me), be sure to dress comfortably and professionally.

I do not regret the experience. I allowed myself to admit and to feel the discomfort and embarrassment while in the moment. Although I did limit the amount of chatting with others, I did not hide or run from the situation or my feelings. I learned that although I have come a long way in accepting myself as I am, I still have a ways to go--it is most likely a life-long process for me. I have also been able to laugh about the experience and with the completion of this sentence, let it go!

Blessings until next time,

Doris 

Comments

[Lee McAlilly]

Hi Doris!

I recently found your blog on eating disorders, and I wanted to reach out. I’m the blog coordinator for EverydayHealth.com. We’re currently recruiting people to write a weekly blog post about their various health conditions and I thought you might be interested.



Everyday Health has over 25 million monthly unique visitors to their website, and there is a lot of potential exposure and traffic to come from blogging with the market leader in online health information. It’s also an excellent platform to promote awareness about eating disorders, and any cutting edge research or advice.


Let me know if this is something that you’re interested in and might like to talk more about.
 I enjoyed reading some of your old posts, and I think you have a unique perspective that Everyday Health readers would love for you to share.


Thanks so much!



Lee McAlilly

Blog Coordinator, EverydayHealth.com
lmcalilly (at) waterfrontmedia (dot) com