Last night I watched Victoria Wood's excellent documentary about size, weight, health and body image.
Some really good insights into the importance of self worth for people and the difficulty of achieving that in a world which portrays stick thin as the ideal and never shows "normal" sized people without criticism of them being fat.
Sarah Ferguson reflected on how a lot of her own self perception of herself was based on what other people around her said and thought. She reflected on her own appearance in the light of the glamour of her sister in law Diana. Ok that's got to be pressure hasn't it?
I am constantly grateful to my parents for bringing me up in such a loving home that I have never felt SO bad about my appearance or weight that it depressed me or stopped me doing anything I wanted to do. I really don't look in the mirror and think "ugh!" I may not be Jennifer Aniston or Keira Knightly but I think I look ok and sometimes I even look great! (Awaiting evidence of photo from Ami's camera of me at the R.E.M. gig!)
Well that's great for me but I want to be able to pass that feeling on to the young people I work with as well as to my friends and colleagues. How do I do that though? Well I think it is very simple really. So simple that it's too obvious and we might miss it.
The simple solution to a world in which people feel bad about themselves is the solution Jesus himself offered to those who felt bad about themselves.
Jesus' offering was LOVE. Pure and simple.
That is why I have a positive self image. That is the only way people can have such a high self esteem.
So today is the day for you to tell someone not that they look NICE but that they look BEAUTIFUL or GORGEOUS or STUNNING.
Do it today!
1 comment:
I also watched the program and enjoy Victoria Wood's view on life. As a not particularly 'stick thin' and yet fairly well balanced and well liked personality she was well placed to put across an unbiased viewpoint.
My weight does get me down sometimes, fuelled by the media showing such beautiful people as being such a desirable thing (even though I know it is so shallow; here today and rejected tomorrow for the next best thing).
Often what frustrates me even more than not being a supermodel(!) are the actual personality traits that I seem to use remarkably well to annoy others or make myself look stupid. Is there some sort of miracle personality diet I can go on to become a more beautiful person on the inside which isn't so arduous?!
I am VERY glad that I am a child of God and that he loves me :) because sometimes it is very hard for me to love myself. I suppose I will have to wait for eternity to see if I have made it into the Heat magazine of Heavenly beings...
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