I offered to do some holiday shopping with my deep-discount at a women’s athletic store for a friend who’s about my size (or so I thought) earlier this week. In her absentia, I tried on the super sleek “tuxedo city leggings” to get an idea of the style, cut, fit, and size.
Yikes. I needed to upgrade from M to L.
I tried to blame the overhead fluorescent lights for highlighting the cottage-cheese-like-cellulite that appeared in every angle of the 3-way mirror.
And then I even resorted to pulling the pants (and by that I mean jumping up and down to get the skin-tight stretch material) above my belly button in the hopes of eliminating the fleshy parts that spilled over. #muffintop
[Note: No matter your size, the law of physics proves that anytime you take a thick, large rubber band and bind it around your waist, you will indeed have an overspill of flesh. It’s called displacement, however People magazine has renamed this “the muffin top.”]
It was not pretty. And, to be honest, I couldn’t breathe. The pants did not live up to the wait-until-you-try-these-on!-they-are-so-comfortable! description of the sales clerk.
As I twisted, turned and contorted in the hopes of getting a more favorable view in the mirror, my mind took over.
Tons of Fun. Thunder Thighs. Miss Piggy.
Nicknames of yesteryear began taunting me, trying to get me to self-sabotage and self-hate again.
And that’s when it got real. I shut it down.
Right then and there, I claimed power that those thoughts are not what God says about me, and they do not define or describe me.
I am beautifully and wonderfully made. I am a child of the most high God. I am chosen. I am created for a purpose.
And then I was convicted.
I reminded myself that just this week, I took a vow to practice gentleness, kindness, love, and care, and I even challenged you to do the same.
I knew that it all had to begin in my head.
I remembered a great phrase that my mentor, Joyce Meyer, shares frequently: every thought you have doesn’t have to be one you think.
Good stuff. I can choose what takes up real estate in my head.
So at that moment, I chose not to think those thoughts. I chose not to believe those lies.
Instead, I chose to set my mind on the progress I am making and focus on the character God is refining in me. And believe it or not, I also thought about you–how this could be a teachable moment for others. (Note: my mind never shuts down.)
So, dear sunshine, I want to encourage you, when you are tempted to resort to the taunts of your own mind-games, be convicted of your commitment to be gentle, kind, loving, and caring to yourself. And remember to be careful of the thoughts you think; they may become the lies you believe.
Choose The Truth.
If this speaks to you, I’d love you to speak to me. Share how this related and resonated.
With love, dear one, |
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