"I have had to come to a settlement in my life having had polio. I would need a whole new leg in order to fit in the main stream of society. Think long and hard. Are you buying into the world standards of what perfection is? God made us exactly the way He desires us to be wrinkles and all...it is a natural aging process. I have been studying Ephesians 5:28-32 where it talks about how a husband should love his wife as his own body. It even talks about it being a profound mystery in vs 32. I think that God can give our husbands the eyes of love so they do not notice the imperfections that we see in ourselves. How does that happen? I don't know, but we shouldn't be surprised...isn't that exactly the way God looks at us?"
This quote came from a new friend I have. She was responding to a woman who is contemplating plastic surgery (a woman, who, incidentally, is absolutely beautiful). I know very few women in our country who DON'T stress over body image. Our society tells us we have to weigh 120 pounds to be attractive. Our society tells us we have to be ATTRACTIVE. Work out, eat 300 calories a day, work out, sleep 8 hours a night, work out, get a tummy tuck, work out, boycott McDonalds, work out, drink 56 gallons of water every hour, work out, work out, WORK OUT. It's no wonder we are unhappy, unsatisfied, depressed, obsessed, burned out, frustrated, exhausted and just plain pissed off.
I don't use the term "we" lightly. I AM GUILTY. In fact, yeah...I'm just gonna throw this out there...I'm pretty sure I am THE most obsessed woman I know when it comes to weight and body image. Well guess what? I'm SICK OF IT. I've been sick of it for quite some time now and have been trying to figure out how to break free. Jason thinks I'm all-that-and-a- bag-of-chips so why can't I believe him???
I'm done. No...I'm not going to change overnight...it's taken 20 years to get this way, it's going to take time to undo. But I know what I've been doing wrong. I've been relying on MYSELF to fix it...to break it...to be free. Duh. I can't think of ONE time in my life when I SAVED MYSELF. I have a lot of letting go that needs done.
6 comments:
Awwwwwww. You go girl!
Go you!!!!!!
Sometimes we forget that as long as we are who we were made to be, we can be perfect without being flawless. (As a side note, I also feel compelled to point out, in properly proper terms, that although a person's value is not in their physical self, the idea of you having weight and body image issues is absurd, Keri. You are the "after" picture, not the "before" picture.)
Ben
http://kissthecook-ben.blogspot.com/
Ben, you are too kind!! Thank you. Since making this post, I have already experienced changes in my heart and in my mind. God is so awesome, He amazes me. There really is no mountain He can't move. :)
Oh my goodness - I look at you and see perfection - can't image how you can't see it too. I'm five foot even and 240 pounds and struggle so hard with body image. Hang in there - you are a perfect child of God.
Anonymous - Whoever you are, thank you for the encouragement!! But you know, the same goes for YOU TOO...YOU are a perfect child of God as well. :)
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