July 6, 2014

Good morning Friends! Here's a Sunday message for you:

On the 4th of July we went to a water park with Mike's family. You all know that putting on a swimsuit leaves very little room for error. Every flaw, every roll is enhanced. We were having a great time, but sitting at the end of the pool were 4 women. These were NOT model type women, and had NO room to judge, but they sat there and mocked every woman that walked by. One would whisper, then all would turn and stare, then laugh, roll their eyes, or make rude comments. They did it to me, too. They were making everyone uncomfortable, and some would even go all the way around to avoid their taunting. Why would you do something like that? Why waste so much time and energy degrading others when we should be lifting them up? They were bitter, cynical people who were tearing others down to make themselves feel better. It's a human trait. 

It's also a guarantee that when you are at your lowest point, someone else is at their highest. It is very difficult to be happy for someone when you are having hard times. Sometimes we feel jealous or resentful of their "perfect" life. Several years ago, we were having a really hard time. Things were bad and getting worse, and no matter how hard we tried to stay above water, we kept getting knocked down and then kicked while we were down. At this same time, an acquaintance of mine on Facebook was having much luck and success. I remember thinking, "If I have to read one more post about how perfect her life is, I'm going to hide her!" Low and behold, up came another post. "No," I thought, "I don't want to be one of those people. I will just do my best to make a happy response, even if I have to fake it." So I told her how happy I was for her and wished her luck in everything she did, and you know what? Everything changed. Not my circumstances, nor hers. You know what changed? Me.
Sometimes it's still hard to suffer while others succeed or not to criticize or judge, but I'm making a conscious effort to work on it.

That being said, tomorrow I will go to Bear Lake. I will wear a swimsuit and not care what others think about me. I will ROCK this imperfect body of mine, and be happy for those who still have their perfect one. And you know what? We'll ALL have a great time. :)