Body Image

I believe the scriptures when they say that we are created in God's image. I believe that we are each created with great divinity and potential. I believe that before we came to earth, we existed in heaven with heavenly parents. I believe that we were sincerely happy and excited for the opportunity to be born to this earth so that our precious spirits could obtain a physical body.

Because of these beliefs, I feel strongly that our bodies are a sacred gift. They are each unique, and thankfully different from one person to the next. Being the humans that we are, comparison is a natural action. It can be a great aid in helping us make decisions, and a great detriment when it comes to us looking at ourselves and making comparisons between our body and someone else's body.

Far too often I see things on Pintrest with images of unrealistically skinny women with a promise that if you do the workout promoted there you can have a sexy, slim body just like them. Accompanied with these pins are hundreds of comments from women who self-loath (openly, semi-openly, or secretly) the incredible bodies they have been blessed with. They see all the good things, even the unrealistic things, and measure it against themselves.

Taking care of your body is really important. It is wonderful to eat healthy, exercise, and care about yourself. But somewhere along the line of taking care of ourselves (thinking of us as women) we forget that we were so excited to simply have a body, and we put ourselves down because we're not as "lean", "thin", or "attractive" as the person(s) we compare ourselves with. I promote healthy living, and encourage the good that comes to individual lives when we do what's good for our bodies to function well; but I hate (yes, hate!) the obsession over weight and appearance. I hate seeing women devote hours of their lives to "looking good" or seeing them plunge themselves into diet fads, or eating disorders that deprive themselves of healthy nutrition that they desperately need.

I can't imagine the sorrow that must cause our Heavenly Father. When He looks at us and sees our tremendous goodness and potential but finds us preoccupied in the flaws and imperfections of our bodies that most of the time we exaggerate. I can't imagine His sorrow as He tries to teach us that beauty is not just found in the exterior of our bodies, but that beauty is the cultivation of our divine spirit within.

My husband is a sweetheart. He tells things to me straight, and (most of the time ;)) I love it. The other night we were listening to a church song about how we as women are daughters of our Heavenly Father. As we were talking about the song he said, "you know, I think it's an attractive quality about a girl when she can know who she is and trust confidently that she matters especially when she might not be considered the most attractive girl." An inner knowledge of who you are, your worth to our Divine Creator is more attractive (to a guy who has his priorities straight...) than a girl who obsesses over her body. Good men are like that.

I realize that it can be very difficult to to see our goodness. Our programming, and society, teach us subliminally that we as women are expected to be thin. It's hard to balance the images we see and the emphasis placed on being thin with the reality of what our body type/shape is. I know that Heavenly Father cares enough about us individually to help us with this balancing act. If we are willing to put forth the effort to see the good in us and ask for His help, He can help illuminate our minds as to the wonderful things about us.

In middle school when I was super paranoid about my body image, my best friend's boyfriend told me I had, "thunder thighs." Ya. He really did... I about died because I cared SO much about being "skinny" that "thunder thighs" was NOT what I wanted to hear- ever! Since that time, I've come to love those muscly thighs. I had to spend quite some time asking for help to see the good in me and how I am shaped. I realized that because of my awesome thighs I could play soccer (my all time favorite sport!) really well. It helped me stand my ground and play well against guys much bigger than myself. There are perks to the way we are shaped. I might not, scratch that, I know I don't fall into the category of having a perfect bod, but I couldn't care less!

My sweet mom is a great example to me of being "real." I don't remember my mom ever worrying about weight growing up. She wasn't stick skinny or obese. She was perfect. She didn't obsess about how many calories she ate or working out. She filled her time doing good things (raising 5 kids is a full time job!) She worked hard to give us the best of everything and was the ultimate example of a women who had things straight.

Maybe it is because of my mother that I feel so passionately about the need to be kind to our bodies. Maybe it is because of the spiritual experiences I have had personally that make me an advocate for doing what is realistic. Whatever it is, I am grateful for it, and I hope I can spread the desire to my other friends and dear ones to be kind to their bodies as they look at themselves and feel imperfect like we all do at some point.

Life is a gift- our bodies especially. They help us do so very much. Why not treat them with love and respect? They house the best part of ourselves- our divine spirits.

Just Right...

A couple Sunday's ago, our Relief Society president (the women who is in charge of directing the watch care of the women of our congregation), spoke about spiritual experiences. She talked about daily recognizing the experiences we have, and invited us to record them in a journal so that we can not only learn to recognize heaven's help, but so that we will have a "bucket full" of experiences to rely on when our well of faith seems low.

I decided to take her up on the challenge. In the previous weeks, I had been noticing how Heavenly Father has been inspiring my spirit/mind a lot- mainly in the form of an idea of something to do to help a family member. So I felt excited to write down the experiences I've been having.

Because I committed to doing the challenge, I of course have felt more stumped, "uh... Should I write this down? Does it really count??" But today I had a moment given to me that I think really counts.

As a new mom I often wonder, "Am I doing things right?" "Is my baby getting what he needs?" "Do I need to to more? Do less? What should I do...?" The list is, no joke, endless!

Today William was itching to go outside. He would walk from the front door to the back door and reach for the handle (I smell trouble already when he's taller!). I decided to be a "good" mommy and take him outside. I followed him where ever he wanted to go (minus up to random people's doors...) We walked up and down the streets and sidewalks, just taking our time.

While we were out there I had the thought, "you're doing it right momma. This is just what he needs." After walking for quite a while, I picked Will up in my arms and gave him a big hug. He nestled his head down on my shoulder and for a minute he just laid down mumbling sounds to me. It was the pat on the back I was in particular need of; It was the simple reassurance that even though I am far from perfect, I've got the most important things right in my life.