If you
struggle with your self-esteem, care too much what others think, have daddy
issues, or relationship troubles, you will want to keep reading…
Recently I had
the chance to speak at my boys’ school for their Spiritual Emphasis days. I actually did two workshops for girls
only. The title of my session was “She’s
Beautiful!” The emphasis was on how
to build a healthy self-esteem. I wanted to help them answer the following
questions before we finished our session…
1. Who
do others say that I am?
(What do others think of
ME?)
2. Who
does God say that I am?
(What does God think of
ME?)
3. Who
do I say that I am?
(What do I think of ME?)
I thought I would
take a few moments to share with you some of what I did with them on that
day. This is Part Two from my original
post “She’s Beautiful” (You can read Part One HERE).
YOU are
beautiful! Is that hard for you to
believe?
Well… it’s true! Say it out loud for all to hear, “I’M
BEAUTIFUL!”
The idea of being
“beautiful” is a big deal to us whether we realize it or not. We really do care what others think about us
on the outside. But, what makes
someone “Beautiful”?
We could ask a
million people today this same question and probably get a million different
answers. It really comes down to how “we”
define beauty.
For some
Beauty is defined by the perfect shaped body, the right color hair, a
perfect complexion, or lightly tanned skin. For
others it’s all about personality, smarts, and what’s in the heart.
Did you know that
there are “tools” that help us measure outward beauty? Three come to mind for me… a mirror, a scale,
and measuring tape.
Have you ever
looked into a mirror and not liked what you saw? I
have!!! It seems that the larger the
mirror we look into, the MORE imperfections we find. “I’m too fat, my nose is too big, my hair
is too frizzy or too straight, my eyebrows are growing together… yikes! This body is out of control!”
We never seem to
be perfect enough when we look into that magic mirror, do we? But, think about it…
Who decides what
the perfect reflection should look like?
Have you ever
gotten onto a scale and not liked the number you saw? I have!!! Maybe you avoid scales like the
plague or only check it at the doctor’s office.
Nobody ever seems to be skinny enough when they stand on it. That special number recorded on the scale can
be a good thing or a bad thing... depending on the person. For most it’s a secret number never shared
with others. But, why?
Who decides
what weight is the perfect weight for everyone?
Have you ever
used measuring tape to determine how small or big an area of your body is
compared to others? I have!!!
Some of the girls in my workshop didn’t even know what a measuring tape was
when I held it up. I explained that it
was used to help measure every nook and cranny of your body to see if you are
the perfect size… and it’s used for sewing too of course. But, think about it…
Who decides what
that perfect size should be?
I don’t know
about you, but when I was a kid, “Barbie” was our role model. Everyone wanted to grow up to be like this
little doll. She was skinny, had
long, beautiful blonde hair, perfect white teeth, an amazing wardrobe, a cool
pink car, a horse, a fancy house, and a hunk of a boyfriend named Ken.
The big problem with Barbie is that an
“Unrealistic Image”
was placed in our minds as children that we could never
attain.
The perfect reflection,
weight, and size of Barbie is totally impossible for anyone to ever
accomplish! We can NEVER measure up to
it! Let me explain…
Check out the comparison of Barbie’s measurements to those of an average woman below. Barbie’s size and measurements do not add up
to balanced proportions. If she was a
real woman, the closest comparison would be to that of someone who is severely
anorexic.
What would life be like
if a REAL woman had Barbie's body?
Based
on her measurements, her bones would be frail causing lots of problems. Her head would be two inches larger than the
average American woman's resting on a neck twice as long and six inches
thinner. Because of this she'd be
entirely incapable of lifting her head.
She would have to walk on all fours to get around because her feet are
so disproportionately small and her legs are so long. She would have trouble standing because her
chest would pull her forward onto her toes.
To top it all off, her head would be the same circumference as her waist
meaning she would only have room for half a liver and few inches of
intestines. The result would be chronic
diarrhea and death from malnutrition.
This is not what every girl dreams of when she imagines being like
Barbie when she grows up.
Did
you know that 3 Billion women on the planet don’t look like Barbie?
(Only 8 women will ever
come close.)
Barbie vs. Average
Barbie Average Woman
Height
|
5’9”
|
5’5”
|
Head
|
22”
|
20”
|
Bust
|
39” (FF)
|
36” (B)
|
Waist
|
19”
|
34”
|
Hips
|
33”
|
40”
|
Weight
|
110 lbs
(35 lbs underweight for
her height)
|
140 lbs
|
Shoe Size
|
Size 3
|
Size 8.5
|
These
measurements are totally impossible!!! Nobody could ever accomplish this with out paying
a lot of money out for plastic surgery and/or becoming severely anorexic in
the process.
God did not
create each of us to look like ONE person here on earth.
God likes variety!!! The world
has fooled us into believing that we have to change ourselves to become this
PERFECT ideal of Barbie. But nobody can
do it!
The rules aren’t
fair when they make the “perfect ideal” so out of reach for us and they use
Photo shop among other programs on all of the images they show us of skinny,
perfect people in magazines and on TV.
Even the models who are in the pictures don’t measure up to these Barbie
standards.
Do you remember
those initial questions I was hoping to answer in my workshop for the
girls? The first one was…
Who do OTHERS
say that I am? (What
do others think of me?)
My answer: Who
Cares? It’s not worth my time or energy.
I’m sure glad God
doesn’t see us the same way the world does.
He looks beyond the surface of our lives into our hearts. He sees beauty inside and out.
I Samuel 16:7 says…
“People judge
by outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.” (NLT)
Be watching
soon for my next post in this series of notes from my workshop for the girls
called… “What does God think of ME?”
I hope if nothing
else you have learned from this blog post that we can NEVER measure up to the
world’s standards of beauty. It is
totally unattainable and a waste of time.
God made you the way you are for a reason! He adores you and thinks YOU ARE
BEAUTIFUL! Believe it friend! It’s true!
Living to leave a
legacy,
Julie
