“I really admire the fact that you run marathons and you are not thin,” a good friend wrote on my Facebook. Her comment caused me to think about something I haven't considered in a long time: body image in the public eye.
This particular friend has been watching my life online because she’s in a different country. When we were young we talked a bit about losing weight and our bodies. We’re now in a different place in life with different responsibilities yet, we have that same body we were given at birth.
What I know for a fact is:
• I’m only given one body for life. I hope to glorify God with the one body He gave me. By glorifying, I mean, taking good care of it so I can be healthy for God’s purposes.
• My body has taught me to be flexible. I can’t obsess about perfection like I did when I was 16. My body has rearranged organs so I could bring life into being. My body has taken me to the finish line of multiple races. My body also taught me not to push it too hard. I’ve been in the hospital for dehydration and I don’t plan on going back.
• My mind is the key for a healthy body image. I find that when my mind is troubled, it is tough to have a healthy body image. I’ve been set free from major body image issues. The small stuff bothers me sometimes but I have learned that the mind drives a lot of what I feel about my body.
• I’m not a model. I do not plan on signing up to the Instagram modeling agency. I don’t plan on signing up for a regular agency. Because I’m not a model, I don’t need to have a perfect body. I personally believe that the perfect body is an illusion. Just look around and observe how differently God made people. Back to me, I’m not a model. That takes away a lot of pressure. I understand that people always watch us but their perception is not our responsibility. I also understand that having a perfect body is the key to belonging to certain social circles. Here’s how I see it: it’s their loss.
I hope to continue to do whatever it is I'm doing with my body image. I guess, I’m just living my life with the body I’ve been given. I don’t want to start a movement or a revolution. I just want to glorify God with the body He gave me.
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