Body image and Self worth

Remember that time I wrote a post saying in the future I would write a post about body image, self worth, confidence, etc? Well, here it is....

I've spent the last couple months really soul searching. Mostly to find peace and understand who I really am, but also to come closer to God. 

A couple weeks ago I was reading a book called Christ and the New Covenant by Elder Jeffery R. Holland alongside with Ether 3 in the Book of Mormon and I had a very profound epiphany. 

Basically, The Brother of Jared was trying to figure out a way to bring light to the ships that they were to travel across the ocean in. So, he went to God with some stones and asked God that if He would touch the stones, they would glow and give light to the ships. So it happened. When the finger of God touched the stones, the Brother of Jared saw that they were like fingers of man and he fell to the ground with fear.  The chapter goes on to read that God conversed with the Brother of Jared and then, because of his astonishing faith, the Brother of Jared was able to see God's body in the flesh. Of course, he was amazed. God tells him that man's body is made after the image of Himself. He says: "see that ye are created after mine own image? All men were created in the beginning after my own image. This body is the body of my spirit and man have I created after the body of my spirit." 

When I read this, it really hit me hard that my body is created after God's body. In fact, all people have bodies that are created in the same manner that God's is!! 

If my body is created after the Lord's, why should I not be utterly thrilled and grateful for it? Why should I think it's not good enough? Why should I feel like I'm not pretty? Or that I'm not skinny enough? Why should I be so hard on myself because my body isn't perfect? I should be so incredibly grateful to have a body that is created after His own image!!

Not only is my body created after His image, but it was made to house my spirit. I should love my body and take care of it so that my spirit may be nurtured. I should treat my body like the temple that it is by eating things that are nutritious, by exercising, by sleeping, and by not putting harmful things into it. 

It's so disappointing that the media, entertainment, and Hollywood does not portray things as they are. Everything in the media screams to women to be skinny, to be a size 2 (or less), to have big boobs, to have perfect hair and makeup, to wear expensive clothing, and to not eat anything so you don't gain weight. 

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Because of that, it is so easy to get bogged down and think you're not good enough, not thin enough, not pretty enough. It's easy and quick to start feeling depressed, negative, and obsessed with losing weight regardless of whether or not you need to.

But the media is only providing a false sense of reality and presenting an impossible goal. Most women are not a size 2. Most women do not naturally have a stick thin body with huge boobs. Most women do not have a team of hair and makeup artists following them everywhere to make them look perfect. Most women have curves. Most women have imperfect bodies. Most women are selfless enough to have kids who consume mass amounts of time and energy which in turn means they may not look perfectly presentable every second of every day.

So let us please go back to the scriptures and remember how amazed the Brother of Jared was to see that God's body was made in the same manner as man's. Let us remember how incredibly blessed we are to have such a wonderful gift from God: a body created after the manner of His. Let us remember what a blessing it is to have a body that is able to function properly. A body that can eat, sleep, run, walk, move, laugh, cry, talk, dance, and so much more. Let us rejoice in the beauty that is a body and feel confident in ourselves and love who we are because we are each a unique individual with many differences, but are all children of God!

Disclaimer: I am very guilty of falling into the trap of not loving my body, feeling negative and down because I am not thin enough, and being obsessed with my weight. I often have waves of feeling very confident and happy, and waves of feeling very discouraged and obsessive about being too big. I was not a skinny kid, but I didn't realize it until I was about 15. A year later I became so distraught that I wouldn't eat in front of a dance teacher for fear that they would tell me I shouldn't be eating because I was too big. Even when I was pregnant, I compared myself to everyone and felt like I was too big and wanted to loose weight so I could be skinnier. And after having my baby I still have the same issues. But as I have come closer to the Lord, I have started to become more confident and more happy with who I am. I am still not perfect, and I still have many times where I wish I was skinnier, but I am trying to focus more on being happy and healthy. So this post is just as much a reminder for me as for anyone else who may need it.