“Over 80% of 10 year old girls
are afraid of being fat.”
“By middle school, 40-70% of
girls are dissatisfied with two or more parts of their body..”
These are just two statistics that were given by NYC.gov when
I searched, "statistics of girls suffering from body issues." Many people talk
about this topic, we watch the videos in health class, we go through all the
motions, but what sometimes we don’t see is what is really important. These
girls are lacking something in their lives. Some say they are lacking a parent,
or longing for a relationship with another person, some might argue that they
were bullied into an eating disorder or self-image problems but what I think is
that these girls are lacking guidance. Through my first year in college I have
observed girls that the toll that the new college life takes on a person is not
just stress related. Sometimes the adjustments result in a lack of guidance,
which in hand can cause some serious issues. I have even struggled from time to
time about my body and if I was happy with the way it was. I am even guilty of
comparing myself to the models in New York or girls that are just naturally
more petite than I am. But as I have gotten older this hasn't been a really big
issue for me. I started looking at pictures of thinner looking women and
thinking, “Good for them!” instead of, “I wish that was my body.” This
mentality has helped my opinion of my body and my self-esteem tremendously.
Proverbs
31:17 says, “She dresses herself with strength and makes her arms strong.” A
lot of women have been told to strive to be a Proverbs 31 woman, and right here
in this verse it talks about strength! To me this proves that God isn't calling
you to be “thin” or “skinny” he is calling you to be STRONG, and to be strong
you need to be healthy. But not only did I perceive this verse to be referring to
physical strength, but referring to mental strength as well. Life is difficult,
even a six year old could tell you that, we all have our up and down days, but
what gets us through it is God. God is calling us Christian women to be strong
minded because He knows that sometimes life can throw you a curve ball and
women of faith can get through it. Not only does life throw you a curve ball
sometimes, but you also have to be mentally strong on the days that you just
feel like blah and want to be lazy and just eat some French fries, or whatever
it is you eat when you feel like that. It is on those days that we have a
mental battle with ourselves, and we have to power through it. You have to
convince yourself that you are beautiful, you are loved, and you will make it.
You is Smart. You is Strong. You is Important
