In Praise of Thick Ankles

Good thing I'm not a stiletto heel kind of gal, because I don't have the ankles for them.  They're stubby rather than slender or slight.  And they're attached to wide pancake-flipper feet.  They're not delicate nor particularly feminine...nothing below my knees is.  Dainty?  Definitely no.

What I've come to appreciate about them is that they're sturdy.  Even when I was out of shape (and there have been MANY years like that) the feet were strong.  Turn those ankles on the trail and they keep right on going.  Twist those puppies and they still work. They're resilient, powerful, and up to just about any challenge.

For that reason, they're my favorite feature.  They remind me it isn't how we look that matters, or how thin we are.  Those are the wrong goals.  Better to embrace strength, build flexibility, preserve balance and grow stamina than fret about size.  What you can DO is more important that how you look.  How you feel and your ability to spring back from adversity is more important than measurements.

That's one of the things that bears repeating, because we tend to forget it and society just doesn't reinforce it...getting strong, staying strong is what's important.  Strong ankles are an asset...they take you to wonderful places.