Pursuit of Beauty
When you look in the mirror, what do you
see? Your face? Your body? Your soul? What do you tell
yourself about what you see?
Quite often I find that our inner voices
come from a core of thoughts. The thoughts can protect us, yet can also hurt
us. Women especially are very hard on themselves. Negative thoughts attack our
self-esteem, self-image, self-worth, sense of power, sense of self.
4% of women around the world consider
themselves beautiful. 80% of women know there is something beautiful about
them, yet do not see the beauty within themselves. 90% of women would
change at least one thing about their physical appearance.
Everyday women think and say things to themselves that we would never dream about saying to anyone else. Why then do women continue to say these things to themselves?
The pursuit of beauty, the quest for
perfection, is doomed from the start. “Beauty
is in the eye of the beholder.” What may be beautiful to you may not be
beautiful to me. But that does not mean that it does not exist. Beauty in its purest, truest form, lies within the soul.
It took me a while to come to the
realization, or the differentiation, between my soul and my body. I have a
body. Yet who I am as a person, the beauty that comes from within, from my
soul, is separate from my body.
An interesting phenomenon has recently happened here in
the United States-a campaign of body acceptance. Women are now being shown in
advertisements that are above a size zero.
Women are being reminded and told to value themselves, no matter their
height, weight, and physical appearance.
Women have curves. We are meant to have curves.
We have been created in this shape and form for a reason. The female form is
divine.
Have you ever looked at the shape of the
violin? A cello? A guitar? The bodies of these musical instruments were
designed purposely and specifically in the shape of the curves of a woman’s
body, to immortalize the divinity of the female form.
How has the pursuit of beauty surfaced in
your life? How do you see others? How to you view the opposite sex? The same
sex? What do you tell yourself about what you see? What judgments or
assumptions have you made about others based solely on appearance? It is said
that “beauty is only skin deep.” The
ugliest person can have the most beautiful soul, and vice versa.
I am more than my body. You are more than
your body. We should not value ourselves because of our bodies. Our bodies are
mere shells that our souls inhabit.
I will not search for external beauty. I
will only seek the true beauty that lies within. I will not define myself as a
number on the scale. I am not my body. I am enough. I am beautiful.
Resources:
http://www.themilitantbaker.com/
http://everyonematters2012.com/
“This is a call to arms. A call to be
gentle, to be forgiving, to be generous with yourself. The next time you look
into the mirror, try to let go of the story line that says you're too fat or
too sallow, too ashy or too old, your eyes are too small or your nose too big;
just look into the mirror and see your face. When the criticism drops away,
what you will see then is just you, without judgment, and that is the first
step toward transforming your experience of the world.” ― Oprah Winfrey
“Men are visually aroused by women's
bodies and less sensitive to their arousal by women's personalities because
they are trained early into that response, while women are less visually
aroused and more emotionally aroused because that is their training. This
asymmetry in sexual education maintains men's power in the myth: They look at
women's bodies, evaluate, move on; their own bodies are not looked at,
evaluated, and taken or passed over. But there is no "rock called
gender" responsible for that; it can change so that real mutuality--an
equal gaze, equal vulnerability, equal desire--brings heterosexual men and
women together.” ― Naomi Wolf, The Beauty Myth: How Images of Beauty are Used
Against Women
“It's never been true, not anywhere at
any time, that the value of a soul, of a human spirit, is dependent on a number
on a scale. We are unrepeatable beings of light and space and water who need
these physical vehicles to get around. When we start defining ourselves by that
which can be measured or weighed, something deep within us rebels.” ― Geneen Roth, Women Food
and God: An Unexpected Path to Almost Everything
“What becomes of a man who acquires a
beautiful woman, with her "beauty" his sole target? He sabotages
himself. He has gained no friend, no ally, no mutual trust: She knows quite
well why she has been chosen. He has succeeded in buying something: the esteem
of other men who find such an acquisition impressive.” ― Naomi Wolf, The Beauty
Myth: How Images of Beauty are Used Against Women
“By choosing healthy over skinny you are
choosing self-love over self-judgment. You are beautiful!” ― Steve Maraboli,
Unapologetically You: Reflections on Life and the Human Experience
“Healthy emotions come in all sizes.
Healthy minds come in all sizes. And healthy bodies come in all sizes.” ― Cheri
K. Erdman
“Body acceptance means, as much as
possible, approving of and loving your body, despite its “imperfections”, real
or perceived. That means accepting that your body is fatter than some others,
or thinner than some others, that your eyes are a little crooked, that you have
a disability that makes walking difficult, that you have health concerns that
you have to deal with — but that all of that doesn’t mean that you need to be
ashamed of your body or try to change it. Body acceptance allows for the fact
that there is a diversity of bodies in the world, and that there’s no wrong way
to have one.” ― Golda Poretsky
“Girlfriends,
big or small, thin or fat, WORSHIP THAT BODY! It’s the only one you’ve got!”-Connie
and Carla
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