“Charm is deceitful and beauty is passing, but a woman who
fears the Lord, she shall be praised.”
“A rare woman indeed
is beautiful from a male perspective and favored by other women.”
“Beauty attracts the eye but personality captures the
heart.”
My friend sent a small group of women an article to read
about beauty, body image, and the like.
I liked the article that captured the moments and thoughts of several
real life women with different body shapes and different personalities yet the
same struggles. They wrote about their
bathing suit photo shoot without any photoshop afterwards. The article is here: http://www.buzzfeed.com/laraparker/heres-what-victorias-secret-swimsuits-look-like-on-real-wome?utm_term=.qpqLpW344&fb_ref=mobile_share#.agwWLdP2J
After reading it, I responded to the group email with
this:
Thanks for the article! Just the other day, I
texted my Norman bestie saying that I wanted to cry when I looked in the mirror
because I thought I looked so very fat!! All I focused on was my pudge
and rolls and... every thing I think is wrong with my body. I've never wanted
to cry about it (hope that doesn't ever happen) but it does go to show that I
need a different mindset and to not believe the lies of the devil, which can
even come through mass media. Reading the article and seeing the pictures
helps puts things into perspective and reinforces that women everywhere
think along the same lines, whether for good or bad. I just want to be
healthy and I hope all you ladies will help me, and I will try to help you as
best I can, too! Love you all!
Some other responses were as follows:
“We are so mean to ourselves! AND a happy girl is a
pretty girl to most guys!”
“The Lord has blessed us with health and beauty and,
you’re right, to believe the opposite is a lie.”
The struggle is real.
I know men and women suffer from body image issues, trying to look
beautiful/handsome in someone else’s eyes, obsessing about capturing one's “good
side,” putting on enough weight to look big or losing enough to look thin and
desirable, etc. These bring on eating
disorders, altered mental status, unrealistic expectations, and more. I’m sure there are a
myriad of reasons as to why it happens like wanting control or buying into
marketing ploys, and I want to fight it.
I didn’t realize that I’m making progress until now,
while stopping to think about what to write on. It didn’t happen over night, trust me. And it was hard work and still is because I’m
not quitting! I decided to think of myself
as God sees me, as His beautiful child who is wonderfully made. I also did my due diligent to pinpoint what I
wasn’t particularly happy with and then what I was going to do about it. Voila!
After some reading, I decided to try re-vamp my workout and my
diet, as in, be a bit stricter.
Happy to say, it's going well. I feel pretty and healthy (despite battling who knows
what beyond a cold turned sinus infection!). I’m beginning to believe the “muscular and
very pretty” description given to me by a co-worker. I’m looking in the mirror and accepting my
body shape while seeing beauty, pizzazz, muscles, and more.
Just last weekend even, I felt beautiful. I went to a wedding and was able to see
family and friends, and, since it was a special occasion, I tried to go all
out! I wore a new, little black dress
complete with heels, a pretty up-do, and as much make-up as I could handle (My
Mom teases that she can’t tell that I have any on when, in fact, I do!). I decided that this doesn’t happen a ton, so
I did my own mini photo shoot. No
filters or whatever.
Yay for right thinking!
And the ability to laugh at yourself while being silly!
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