Yesterday, I saw a post on Facebook that really made me think about some things. It was a picture of a young girl, probably around three, and she was standing on a scale in the bathroom asking, "Mommy, am I fat?"
That really hit me hard. I have never thought about the impact it has on younger girls to listen to us complain about ourselves. I am guilty of it. I will be the first one to admit it too! I don't have any children yet, but I do have a husband that is very vocal about how it hurts his feelings when he tells me I am beautiful and every single time I have something negative to say back like, "I'm so fat.", or "I look so ugly today.", etc. When we sat down and talked about it after I had seen that picture on Facebook it really got me thinking. If me saying those things made him really sad, how am I going to feel when I have a little girl and she is worrying about her outward appearance long before she should be?
I also saw an article about a 12 year old girl in Utah that is just finishing up at a treatment center and trying to conquer an anorexia problem. That is too young, she should be running around and playing still like nothing else matters. It breaks my heart to hear and see these things which seems like more and more often today.
Along with this habit of degrading ourselves daily are so many other problems that develop. First of all, I think is selfishness. Getting so caught up in appearance and looks that when that 'perfect person' goal is reached, the real person is lost and forgets what values, standards, and morals existed before. In a world like today, selfishness is such an awful thing. Satan uses it more than anything in this day and age to break apart families, friends, and everything in-between. Second, I think, is depression. So often people find themselves in a 'rut' per say, and lots of them never dig out. Every time you say something negative about yourself you believe it completely a little bit more. If every day you think you are ugly, fat, and awful, eventually that is what you will become.
If everyone, everyday, woke up and looked in the mirror and thought to themselves, "I am beautiful.", "I am pretty.", "I am lucky.", "I am blessed.", and in the end, everyone believed that about themselves, think of the beauty there would be. Just by creating a small change in everyday life even just by words, there could be such a huge difference! The power to fight back against Satan and be able to teach our children that they are beautiful no matter what. Get rid of the selfishness, depression, ailments and outcomes that come from these daily habits of destruction.
There are plenty of articles floating around the web pertaining to this very same idea and concept. This is just simply my own outlook on it. Every day for the past week I have woke up and made it a goal to not say anything negative about myself that day and to accept compliments gratefully. Honestly, it is working. Both me and my husband have already noticed a positive change.
I see things and quotes all the time talking about "Being the change you want to see in the world." And this is my newest goal. Someday, I hope to have a little girl and I want her to walk around every day throughout her whole life with the confidence and strength that she deserves and was meant to have. I also know that my mother truly enjoys it when my sisters and I truly feel good about ourselves.
The greatest piece of advice I have ever been given though, came from my mom that was passed to her from her mom. It is just this:
-If you want someone to change, work on changing yourself.-
Using that piece of advice every day in my life helps me remember that all I need to do is work on me. Never blaming someone else or treating someone else badly for one reason or another. It has helped me be much less judgmental, calmer in my dealings and just feel so much better!
Life is a progress. It changes from day to day and you can never be sure of where it will lead. But, every one of us can choose to be happy and positive. Wake up and feel good EVERY day! And help someone else to too!
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