Firstly,
let me apologise for my blogging hiatus. There has been so much going on for me
this year (particularly school wise) and I just really haven’t been able to
muster up the energy to blog. I should hopefully be back full time though!
Anyway, my friend recently told me about what are known as pro ana websites.
She herself is trying to lose some weight and in trying to find some tips she
came across one of these heartbreaking websites. As I read some of them, the
comments I read there weighed deeply on my heart and I felt I had to give my
two cents on the matter.
For
those who don’t know, pro ana websites are websites that encourage and promote
eating disorders, particularly anorexia. These websites give tips on how women,
and men too, can starve themselves in order to get thinner. These are some
heartbreaking extracts I found on one of the websites;
“I
remind myself every chance I remember that I am too fat right now, and how
disgusting my body looks. I lift up my shirt in the bathroom mirror, a body check every morning. I look at my lack
of thigh gap, the creases in my stomach fat, etc. I let the last number
reported by the scale flash continually in the back of my mind, reminding
myself that I can do SO MUCH BETTER.”
“Plan
your eating (because we really should eat SOMETHING most days if we want to
stay alive and actually enjoy our new bodies) around your usual binges so you
are less likely to binge out of deprivation until your hunger tolerance
increases.”
I
cannot begin to imagine the way an eating disorder can make someone feel. So
please understand that I am not writing this to judge anyone, but instead to
hopefully reach out to someone out there and tell them that it doesn’t have to
be this way. You don’t have to go through everyday hating yourself and your
body, starving yourself and putting yourself at risk in an attempt to be
skinny. From the beginning of the Bible, we are told how God created mankind in
His image. The way that we are ladies (and maybe gentleman) is a representation
of someone so much greater. He does not make mistakes. I understand that in
some instances people may need to gain or lose weight for health purposes and
that’s ok. Where we can improve our bodies, we must strive to do so as they are
the temple of the Holy God. We must not however allow our temples to be
debilitated. It truly saddens me that the brokenness that many experience due
to image issues is being spread over the internet and other media in this
manner. Instead of reaching out to those who are suffering from these issues we
constantly judge other people on their looks. I wish there was a way to get pro
ana websites blocked off the internet. I understand we live in a tech savvy
world but this is one of those cases where technology is poisoning our lives.
If the desire to look good makes you jeopardize your health, it’s just not
worth it.
I
believe self love is of great importance. Indeed others overdo it and become
prideful but there is great need to look at who we are outwardly and love
ourselves. The media today tries to make us believe we should be perfect but
human beings have fallen so far from perfection that it is a goal that is
impossible to attain. Unfortunately many people are left chasing something they
can never catch, and destroying themselves in the process. We are not perfect, but
Christ is and in Him we can rest all our efforts of trying to be perfect. In
knowing that we ourselves aren’t perfect, may we also not judge the
imperfectness of others. Oftentimes it is the things we say to others that
breed damage on their sense of self. Let us learn to love the inside more than
the outside and to appreciate people because of who they are inwardly whether
they are a size zero or sixteen.
To
anyone out there that may be struggling with their image, struggling with
eating disorders or anything else, my hope is that you may seek and find
healing in Jesus Christ and support from others. Please reach out for help
wherever you can find it. Don’t harm yourself chasing down a sense of
perfection that you will never be able to attain. Take care of your body, it is
a gift to you from God. Yet let us not forget that these bodies are not
forever.
God
loves you!