Summer Doesn't Have to Earn My Permission to Be Happy
Written by Savannah Chrisley
Published June 27, 2026
Y'all, it's the end of June and I caught myself doing the thing again. You know the thing. Standing in front of the mirror in a swimsuit, sucking in, tilting my body to the angle that lies the best. And then I just... stopped. I let my breath out. And I stood there in the truth of it.
For so many summers I treated June like a deadline. Like my body had to clock in and prove it earned a seat by the pool. I'd starve myself into something I thought was acceptable, and then I'd hate every minute anyway because I was too busy worrying about the back of my thighs to actually feel the sun.
Not this year. I'm 28 and I'm done waiting until I'm thin enough to live my life.
What I had to unlearn
Here's the part nobody tells you. When I was deep in my endometriosis battle, my hormones were all over the place. I gained 40 lbs in like three months and I genuinely didn't recognize myself. I cried in dressing rooms. I cancelled plans. I let a number decide if I was allowed to be joyful. And looking back, the cruelest thing wasn't the weight... it was how I talked to myself about it.
Therapy taught me something I think about all the time now. My body wasn't betraying me. It was carrying me through one of the hardest seasons of my life. It deserved grace, not punishment.
“I spent years at war with the very thing that was keeping me alive. I'd rather spend the rest of my life saying thank you to it.”
Now, do I still want to feel good in my skin? Absolutely. I'm not gonna pretend I floated above all of it and learned to love every inch overnight, because that's not real. Healing for me has been about doing things for my body instead of against it. I've worked on my hormones, my gut, my sleep. For some women that journey includes support like GLP-1 options or even a little B12 boost when summer's got you dragging. The difference is the why underneath it. I'm not chasing a punishment anymore. I'm building a life I actually want to show up for.
And let me tell you who's been watching all of this... Chloe. She's 13 now. Thirteen. The age where every comment a woman makes about her own body gets recorded somewhere in a young girl's heart. So when she catches me poking at my stomach, I stop. I look at her. And I say something kind out loud instead, because she needs to hear what self-respect sounds like.
Last weekend I got in the lake with the kids. Cellulite, soft belly, all of it. And I splashed and laughed and let Grayson dunk me and I didn't think about my body one single time. That's the gift I almost robbed myself of all those summers. The actual living part.
So this is your permission slip, if you've been waiting on one. You don't have to wait until you're smaller to wear the dress. You don't have to earn the sunshine. You're allowed to be happy in the body you have today, while you're still working on the things you want to work on. Both can be true.
I chose grace this summer. I hope you do too. Go get in the water, y'all. With love, Savannah xo
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