Celebrate All of Yourself – Even Your Thumbs!

When I was about 10 years old, my grandmother bought me my first real piece of jewelry- a 14 karat gold ring for my right hand.  She let me pick it out from the jewelry department at Macy’s.  It had six small rubies in a cluster with a small diamond on top.  I wore it almost every day and I remember staring at it in class while my teacher was talking.  

A year later, for my eleventh birthday she bought me another ring for my left hand.  This time I picked an emerald and proudly wore it on my left ring finger.  

One day, she took hold of both of my hands and pulled me close, our hands clasped between us.  She said, “Before I die, I want to put a ring on each of your fingers.

I looked down at my bare fingers.  My immediate thought was “Why? I don’t need rings for all of my fingers.  I don’t need thumb rings!  That’s too much!”

But all I could say was “Okay.”  There was a part of me that liked the idea.  I thought my rings were beautiful and I loved wearing them and seeing them on my fingers, but a stronger part of me felt like it was wrong to have too many.

By the young age of eleven I had already developed the belief that there was a limit to how much I deserved, to how much I should be celebrated.  I had already developed the belief that it was possible to love myself too much and treat myself too much.  

My grandmother was trying to tell me the truth:

• You are never too much.   

• You deserve it all.

• Celebrate every part of yourself- even your thumbs!

And she was right!  Now in my forties, I am loving unlearning and relearning what’s possible for me in this magical life where I love and celebrate ALL of myself.