http://youtu.be/dsptGe50J40
Good morning. I hope that link works. Still trying to figure this all out!! It is a link to Barlow Girl's song Mirror. I just heard it for the first time on the radio yesterday. The words really struck home for me and made me think. I have been faciliatating groups for young teen girls and spending alot of time around all ages of youth and it saddens me to see how much pressure they have. Pressures to live up to the world's expectations and how they think they need to be in order to popular or just fit in. Then I thought even about myself, battling this middle age spread and thought it really doesn't matter what age you are, you still look in the mirror and judge yourself. So much is decided about a person by their outward appearance whether you like to admit it or not. I think if we are honest with ourselves we could say this is true no matter what age we are. You definately see this in the world. Even the video only shows thin girls. It would have been nice to see an image of all types of bodies, but that is not how the world is. Recently I was going through a teen magainzine of my daughters. There was ONE girl that was not thin and it was advertising a new show called Huge. How sad!!! It is not much different for the adult magaizines. People is full of hollywood stars in their forties that are thin!! How do they do it? Does no one battle middle age spread? Even the diet commercials have people on there saying I was a size 10 , now I am a 2!!! I would be okay to be size 10!! Since when are we suppose to be size two!!??
Now some may say they are healthier. Well I have been learning alot about healthy eating and lifestyles. Those that look thin may not be so healthy. Thankfully the social and health agencies are realising we need to teach our young people that it is about balance. It is about eating the right amount of foods, still enjoying the treats every now and then, and putting some activity in their lives. It is not about dieting. That is a bad word now. It is balance.
What if you are meant to be size 14 at 40? Eating properly, eating balanced meals ( not dieting, no cottage cheese please!!) Exercising some which can mean going for a walk a couple of times a week, taking the stairs. For some of us it comes down to our genes. I have been told many times over I look just like my mom. I have her genes and no matter what I do I will not be the thin little thing I was as a teenager. Some are born thinnier and will not have a problem weight while others of us will. I would hope that my kids also see me like my mom who loves her kids and would do anything for them, often giving up her own wants for them.
If we all, no matter our age could stop and see ourselves in God's eyes instead of the worlds and even our own how much better would be feel!!
The song is beautiful as it states:
Mirror I am seeing a new reflection
I'm looking into the eyes
of He who made me
And to Him I have beauty beyond compare
I know He defines me
We are the apple of his eye!! We are beautiful to him. Psalm 17:8 states that God will keep us, "as the apple of His eye."
He loves us for who we are you. He sees the perfect 10 on each of us! With Him we can know that we have worth. He sees the good in us and wants us to know that we are loved for who we are, not for what the outside looks like.
I continue to come to terms with this change of body that middle age has presented me, trying hard not to let the world's view bring me down, believing that I am beautiful in His eyes. I hope you can do the same!!
Love and Prayers,
Jen Loner
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