3. I Will Accept This Truth: Swimsuit Modeling is Not My Purpose (And That’s Okay.)
(Note: If you are an actual swimsuit model, skip over this one. Sorry to exclude you.)
For the rest of us, can we be honest with ourselves for two seconds? God gave us each a purpose. And, now that I’ve crossed the line into motherhood and (gasp) middle-age (maybe, not one hundred percent on when it starts), it’s time I come to grips with this fact. God’s purpose for my life was not to model swimwear.
Though hard to accept, I now see how God actually gave me exactly what I needed to accomplish the purpose he does have for me. Though he didn’t give me five-feet-long legs and thigh gap, he did bless me physically with other attributes. He gave me great hearing to intervene when my children conspire destruction. Eyes to express compassion when a hurting friend shares a need. He gave me strong legs to walk inconsolable criers all over the house and fast-typing fingers to record the words He directs me to write.
I used to think fulfillment would come from a better body. That theory was bogus. Finding God’s purpose for my life freed me from the pressure of chasing beauty. The ability to rest in his true purpose for my life proves infinitely more satisfying than achieving the right number on the scale.
4. I Will Not Compare Myself. Period.
Not to other women. Not to the thinner, ten-years-ago version of me pictured in a frame on my husband’s desk. Not to the model on the swimsuit price tag. Not to the pretty (and super tan) eighteen-year-old lifeguard watching my children fight over the blue pool noodle. Not to anyone. Anywhere.
Comparison breeds discontentment in our hearts. Though it takes discipline to silence its condemning voice (“Why don’t you look more like her?”), it can be done when you know your purpose. (See #3 above.) When we know what God has uniquely created us to do, we can stop looking around to see how everyone else looks and what everyone else does. We can stop trying to “fix” our bodies every summer and, instead fix our eyes on Him—the one who examines our hearts, not our bodies.
