Mental Gymnastics…

Do you ever play mental games with yourself?  As women, we are especially good at this when it comes to our appearance. Maybe you only allow yourself to have that special dessert when you do a certain workout or hit a certain number on the scale. Having an eating disorder in my past, I steer clear of scales. Instead I came up with another rationale for a while: As long as my clothing size is smaller than my shoe size, all is well. What is so hilarious about my approach is that I have the biggest foot of any woman I know! Leave it to me to determine a formula that would give me the greatest amount of wiggle room. No pun intended.I was recently talking with a friend who referenced she would only let herself buy a certain size clothes. Smaller sizes were always acceptable, of course, but there was an unstated max. If her body changed sizes, she would be more likely to search for a little more generously sized brand then to just go up a size. I think half the women I know probably work from that same philosophy. What I found so ironic as I reflected on our conversation was that even when we were discussing how we play these games, she was careful not to reference what her preferred size was. Top-secret stuff, you know!I never thought this would be my lot in life, but I am wondering if one of my purposes is to call women to choose to accept themselves just as they are. I wish I had my whole act together, but I don’t. If I have not been able to get it together in my own flesh yet, then it is never going to happen. Why do we waste so much time and energy trying to create a false reality and putting pressure on ourselves to fit a certain image?Would you join the movement I am starting and choose to take off the self-imposed expectations and embrace who you are? God does not love a size 4 better than a size 14. God does not love women with manicured nails better than those who have hang nails. The road to heaven is not better if you shop at Goodwill or Anthropologies. I am not talking about disregarding our health or not taking care of our bodies. If we are honest with ourselves, we can tell when we are being good stewards of what God has given us or if we are trying to fulfill expectations. Ironically, I think it is only when we accept ourselves just the way we are that we will have the freedom to be all that God created us to be. Come on, you’ll never regret it. What do you need to embrace about yourself?