Anatomical Reflection

     Body image. This is the curse of the world we live in. We are all too fat, too ugly, too short or too tall, not tan enough or too dark, our hair is too curly or too straight, our eyes aren't the right color, our teeth aren't the right size or shape, our skin is all wrong, our hands are gross, our nails don't grow right, we aren't skinny enough, strong enough, hot enough. All of us. You are reading this and you are thinking of your own flaws that are screaming at you when you look in the mirror. I am writing this with my own flaws screaming at me to delete this and go eat some candy and hide under the covers and never ever ever EVER come out again because oh my word have you looked in a mirror today? I am disgusting and I should be shot and then cremated so no one has to see me in an open casket. Body image. Ain't it a treat?

    I read something on my good old friend Facebook the other day, and I knew that I wanted to post it here and then talk about it. My friend Jessika shared it and I have no idea who wrote it, but I'm going to post it here anyway. Credit goes to the anonymous source of the interwebz I guess.

A while back, at the entrance of a gym, there was a picture of a very thin and beautiful woman. The caption was "This summer, do you want to be a mermaid or a whale?"
The story goes, a woman (of clothing size unknown) answered the following way:

"Dear people, whales are always surrounded by friends (dolphins, seals, curious humans), they are sexually active and raise their children with great tenderness.
They entertain like crazy with dolphins and eat lots of prawns. They swim all day and travel to fantastic places like Patagonia, the Barents Sea or the coral reefs of Polynesia.
They sing incredibly well and sometimes even are on CDs. They are impressive and dearly loved animals, which everyone defend and admires.
Mermaids do not exist.
But if they existed, they would line up to see a psychologist because of a problem of split personality: woman or fish?
They would have no sex life and could not bear children.
Yes, they would be lovely, but lonely and sad.
And, who wants a girl that smells like fish by his side?
Without a doubt, I'd rather be a whale.
At a time when the media tells us that only thin is beautiful, I prefer to eat ice cream with my kids, to have dinner with my husband, to eat and drink and have fun with my friends.
We women, we gain weight because we accumulate so much wisdom and knowledge that there isn't enough space in our heads, and it spreads all over our bodies.
We are not fat, we are greatly cultivated.
Every time I see my curves in the mirror, I tell myself: "How amazing am I ?!

    I read that and it made me smile. I highly doubt it is a real story...I'm sure it's just another viral story made up to be passed along to make women like me feel better about themselves, but by george, it is working! I am so unbelievably tired of listening to my girl friends...my gorgeous, super skinny, head-turning, flawless friends... sit around and complain every time we get together about how they need to work out more, or how they couldn't possibly eat another tiny square of brownie because they are on diet, or how they are getting fat and need to workout more, how they need to eat better and find more recipes, and oh yeah, how they really need to workout more. I just sit there and stare at the floor, trying not to either scream or cry, praying that time will speed up so I can go home. I hate to admit it, but I find it hard to accept invitations to do things with them when I'm feeling especially self-hatey (yes, it's a word...I just made it one) and in fact I will avoid going ANYWHERE if that's the case. There is nothing more humiliating than being with a group of skinny people talking about how much THEY need to workout when all I can think of is how much they must be judging me. I would like to believe they aren't, because I know that they love me for who I am and for the things we have been through, but I feel so condemned when I am around people who focus so much on their own body image. I want my focus to be on my heart and my walk with God, and anytime my focus starts to shift to my body image things turn ugly really fast (pun?).

     I know I'm not alone in feeling this way either. So many of my teen girls are struggling to feel normal in their own bodies, whether they are overweight or underweight or somewhere in between, regardless of whether or not they have acne, or curly hair, or are average height, or any other physical description you can come up with. In the culture we live in, none of us are good enough. And the girls are not alone...the boys are faced with the same things are we are!

    Why are we so pressured, as children of God, to fall into these traps? Why can't we rest in the knowledge that we are fearfully and wonderfully made (Psalm 139:14) and created in the image of God (Genesis 1:26-28)?  I want to challenge you to flee from any thoughts of self-hatred that bind you and run to the truth of who you are in Christ. I know it's hard to be flawed when everyone around you not only seems perfect, but also seems to be judging you for all your imperfections, but be strong and take heart...there is a reward coming. And the reward will be worth it all. More on that reward soon...