Do you want to have a summer spent comfortable in your own skin? Or do you want to continue scrutinizing yourself and others, meanwhile furthering your discontentment with different parts of your body?
Now is such an important time to address body image because we’re about to start showing a lot of skin on a regular basis. In the winter we can hide behind layers of clothing and blame a little extra weight on the holidays (even in March). But in the summer, the sun shines on our every “flaw.”
So if you’re ready to be comfortable and confident, keep reading (and get out your wallets!! …just kidding).
This isn’t a promise to fix all of the flaws you fixate on, but I do believe that if you put into action these three steps, you’ll have a great summer completely relaxed in how you look.
I hate it when articles spend half the time harping on the problem and only a paragraph on the solution, so I’m going to dive right in. You know the problem. I’m talking about the negative thoughts you allow in your head when you look in the mirror and how you sometimes compare your hair to someone else’, or wish your muscles were as toned as hers.
There’s the problem. Here’s the solution…
Step 1: Choose to be content.
If I were you reading this for the first time, that first step would probably piss me off. You’re reading this because you want magical answers, dang it! But truly contentment is a choice.
We may not be able to control each and every single thought that pops into our head, but what we can control is the amount of time we dwell on it.
When you look at someone and the thought of how skinny their thighs are compared to yours starts to stir around in your head, put an end to it. Any kind of comparison thinking, or negative scrutinizing – don’t give it more than 1 second worth of brain power. Whether it’s aimed at you or someone else. You have to work to break the habit of thinking down that negative path.
Step 2: Replace the negative thoughts.
Step 1 could exist on it’s own…for about 24 hours. That’s why you’ve got to complete it by filling those thought spaces with God’s word.
One of my favorite verses and really the one this blog is based on is in Luke 14:11… “if you are content to be simply yourself, you will become more than yourself.”
The minute you realize the door to those negative thoughts is cracking open, think (or even say out loud!)…”I am fearfully and wonderfully made. God created me in His image and He loves me.” What better thought to settle on than the love your Creator has for you?
Step 3: Don’t base your happiness on future events.
Too many times we build the foundation of our happiness on ice cubes. We think, “when this happens (weight loss, new hair color, etc.)…then I’ll be happy with myself.” And our mistake is in the fact that sure it’s solid at the time, but when we don’t hit a goal everything starts to melt and collapse and we’re back to square one. That’s why you have to start now. Right where you’re at. Now. Now.
What you look like right this minute is the person you need to be happy with.
Decide you’re going to be happy, and work to drive out those negative thoughts with what the Bible says about you. God knit you together in your mother’s womb (Isaiah 44:2) so He knew exactly what you were going to look like, down to your exact DNA, and He loves how you turned out! Ask Him for help loving how you turned out as well.
Listen, everyone everyone struggles with something about their appearance that they don’t like. But not everyone lives in the freedom that comes with casting those worries onto God. Let’s decide this very minute to not live in that critical state of mind any longer and really love the person God created us to be!
