The jacket that I just couldn't fit into

It went from closet to weekend bag to storage and yet back to my closet again. That one black jacket that used to almost fit me and now doesn't fit at all. Sometimes I would try it on to see how far I was from my goal, only to hang it back on the rack a bit more unhappily. And today? Today I am giving the jacket away.

I have decided that the jacket that I almost fit into is no longer my jacket. Why? Well, it first of all takes up space in my new walk-in closet, which I could use better. Secondly, I have decided that I no longer need more clothes than what fits in my closet. But most importantly: the jacket symbolizes a body that I do not have and I want to get rid of that.

The black jacket has been hanging in my closet for at least seven years, so why now all of a sudden? By Miljuschka, by Vivian, by Ashley, by Rianne, by Jo-Ann and by all those women who show that a woman's body comes in all shapes, forms, and sizes. As long as I leave that one piece of clothing hanging in my closet, I am actually telling myself: how you look now is not good enough, do something about it.

When the body positivity movement just started a bit, I sometimes wondered if it had any use. And now I turn out to be the living proof that it works. I try to look at myself less critically and I especially try not to judge another woman's body anymore.  From now on I will only exercise to be healthier, to stay fit or to feel better in my skin, no longer because I have to fit into a size that never really suited me anyway.

The jacket turned out to be so much more than just a jacket.