A Life well-wasted

NOTE: I started writing this blog around Easter time. So a couple of weeks ago. I couldn't seem to get past it. I had hit the dreaded writer's block. Then I spent an amazing weekend (this past weekend) with God at a Church Encounter and while it changed my life, it also gave me the insight I needed to finish this blog, because it was a very tough, yet common subject.

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It's a tough subject to address tonight for my Random Topic Challenge. I almost clicked the generate button twice to skip this subject, but not only is that cheating, but as a woman, I know too much about this topic to pass it up, brutal as it may be.

Tonight's Topic: Anorexia


Thin. It's a nicer word than "skinny." It has positive connotations therefore we use the word thin in marketing to make products more desirable. (Wheat Thins anyone? They're healthy right?) Cell phones are considered newer and therefore better the thinner they are. Feminine products are advertised as thinner, with less bulk (but just as effective.)
But it's a different world for those with eating disorders. Thin is both the enemy and the goal. It's a love-hate relationship, and for some, Thin is the killer.

Anorexia Nervosa, 'affectionately ' referred to as "Ana" amongst it's sufferers, is an eating disorder in which those affected purposefully put off eating until their bodies are literally in starvation, causing severe malnourishment and eventually, death. Anorexia is not to be confused with Bulimia, which involves the "binging and purging" behavior. Often, Anorexia is a "gateway" to Bulimia, where one starts off going on an extreme 'diet' by not eating, and then realizing that it's easier to eat, and then purge the food afterward.

Most people know the basic facts about Anorexia. We know its usually associated with women, and body image issues, although a fair populous of men also suffer from it. One little-known group is high school boys, who drop copious amounts of weight using dangerous methods like laxatives and water pills, all so they "make" a certain weight class for the wrestling team; often reaching low weights that are unhealthy for their body type; then the following semester, they pack on the pounds for football. These practices can be a gateway to future eating disorders.

It's fairly common knowledge that the media puts a great deal of pressure on society to have a certain body type, or follow a certain aesthetic. This certain aesthetic is heavily promoted by 90% of the media, and that is to be excessively thin. Fashion magazines, TV Shows, Movies, Internet ads and even children's dolls, promote nearly-unattainable physiques. Every single day we are bombarded with "You aren't good enough" advertising.

You are fat. You are hairy. Your breath stinks. Your body stinks. You have Yellow Teeth. You have Yellow Toenails. Your boobs are too small. Your Biceps are too small. You need contacts, your hair is not the right color/length/straightness/curliness.... your pores are too visible. ZOMGosh my PORES? Heaven FORBID you can see my pores. My skin doesn't need to BREATHE, so lets cover those up too.

And the list goes on and on.

And I understand the desire to feel good about yourself. To HAVE those straight, white teeth, to HAVE that tan, toned, healthy body, too look GOOD in your clothes. Nobody wants to look like Brunhilda from Bratwurst with tufts of body hair cascading from places that NO man wants to boldy go. *Shudder*

But EVEN Brunhilda deserves to be happy in her own skin. To feel alive. To feel human. And if she is happy in her current state, then nobody but her self and God should have the authority to tell her otherwise.

So why do women torture themselves? WHY is every day a constant struggle of self confidence for so many?

Well there is no simple answer. We all have our own story. Kids are cruel. BOYS are cruel. GIRLS are cruel. Family and parents can damage us. Sometimes one negative word is enough to cut so deeply, we don't even realize there's a cut, but our actions speak otherwise.

So let's look at this from a Christian standpoint:


I believe the root of the problem is Women forget that they are a Creation of God, and that God made them just as they should be.

They let the Media tell them who they should be what they should look like, and forget that beauty starts with a healthy Spirit. Some don't even know that when their main focus is on God, everything else in their lives will fall into place. Now that might sound completely cheesy and canned, because you hear it a lot, but that's because it's the truth.

And they let negativity and depravity into their lives and they don't even realize its happening. Negative music with misogynistic or overly sexual lyrics, ads for clothing that objectify women instead of making them feel respectable, powerful and beautiful. TV shows like Real Housewives and The Girls Next door, portray fake, over-sexed, over-tan women living sinful, secular lives and making it look like fun. Like a desirable lifestyle. Lots of fancy cars and diamond rings.

So for some of us, we spend thousands of dollars to try to look like these women because we want to "have" that lifestyle: -- weird diets, every lotion, potion and goo imaginable; plastic surgery, botox injections, collegen injections, clothes that lift, cinch and pull us into shape, seemingly effortless exercise contraptions that will magically give us the body of Angelina Jolie simply by taking it out of the box! (WOW!)

OR.... we turn to eating disorders. It seems so easy. Just skip a few meals and lose a few pounds. (Remember that time you had the flu and lost 10 lbs because you couldn't keep anything down. And you looked SooOOOoo thin? Yeah, that worked! Lets try it again.... )

......And slowly, you become an enemy to yourself, trying to fill a void in your life by chasing after a lie. Wake up ladies! Television shows, the media, the fashion world, etc.... they are LIARS. They lie to you because they want your MONEY. They underhandedly make you feel bad about yourself so that you will buy their product.

And even if you DO obtain the life of a supermodel, it's fleeting happiness. When you are used up, spit out and your body is gone (because you can't take it with you) What will you have left? When the Cadillac breaks down, when your cell phone is outdated and your fake tan fades, and your friends run out because your money is all gone, you are back to square one.

There's an expiration date on life here on earth, but Eternity is forever. A Life spent obsessing over body image is a life well-wasted. God made you perfect, you just have to walk with Him to see it. :-)