Mirror, Mirror, On The Wall

HAPPY WEEKEND : )

First off, I had my first green monster today and I LOVED it. I've been seeing these all over everyone's blog lately and then my friend, Andrea (who faithfully reads many of our blogs, and will hopefully start a blog of her own soon -- I'll introduce you when she does;) Hi, Andrea!) said she's been making them and I thought ... well I better try one! So, I told Angela at Oh She Glows how I've been seeing them everywhere and she suggested I start out with spinach rather than kale and to definitely use a banana. So I did (it worked well because I didn't have kale at the moment, though I'm sure I still would have loved it with kale because I like kale!).
Come to find out, there was no ice in the ice maker either, so I did my best and used spinach leaves, half a banana, almond milk, and a Truvia packet. I was very pleased and will definitely be making these more often. (Note my cute V-day cute given to me by Lauryl : )So moving on, as I mentioned yesterday, by reading others' posts this week, I've become aware that this week has been National Eating Disorder Awareness Week. I've read so many posts of so many of you being so honest about struggles, triumphs, etc that you've gone through and it just made me think a little bit. I always love everyone's honesty and I love this network of girls helping each other out and being a support system! So I thought I'd share a few of my thoughts.

I thought of this song called "Mirror" written by a group called Barlow Girl. I don't really ever listen to them, but I'm familiar with their songs and these lyrics came to mind. I googled them and listened to the song more and I think the lyrics are GREAT. It was actually written by one of them who was overcoming ED. While I haven't personally struggled with ED, and while I don't pretend to understand what anyone has gone through in the past or is going through currently, I think we all have something at least a little in common. Whether we're trying loose weight, trying to gain and get to a healthy weight, or somewhere in between, I think at times us girls can ALL come together and relate to this song.

"Mirror"

Mirror, Mirror on the wall, Have I got it?

'Cause Mirror you've always told me who I am

I'm finding it's not easy to be perfect
So sorry you won't define me
Sorry you don't own me
Who are you to tell me
That I'm less than what I should be?
Who are you? Who are you?
I don't need to listen
To the list of things I should do
I won't try, I won't try

Mirror I am seeing a new reflection
I'm looking into the eyes of He who made me
And to Him I have beauty beyond compare
I know He defines me

You don't define me, you don't define me

It might happen every single time we look at the mirror, or maybe it's just once in awhile if we think about it too much, or when we're having a bad day, but I think we all have times when we look in the mirror and we let it tell us who we are by what we see, and let that mirror compare us to others who we think look better. We let it tell us we're not beautiful, we're not worth anything, or fill in the blank. We let it tell us we're ugly and that we're not worthy of love, not good enough, not beautiful enough to be loved. And while we all experience different extremes of this, and how often we feel it, it's there. This longing to feel beautiful, to BE beautiful, to be assured that you're beautiful and to feel strong and courageous about it. We long to be captivating, accepted, to freely and confidently to fully know and be known, and still be beautiful.

So what do we do about this feeling, this longing? At times it's easy to ignore it. Maybe we push it aside with a new outfit, or new hair cut ... or maybe unhealthily obsess over food, our career, school, working out, or whatever. But at the end of the day if you really look, it's might be scary to realize it's still there ... longing to be fulfilled. So here's my personal experience with this longing ... at least in my own life, just as contained in this song, the only way these feelings have ever been fulfilled is to realize that God calls me beautiful, and He defines me! To Him, I have beauty beyond compare. And so do you! Whether you feel it right now or not, you are so beautiful. You might not see it right now, you might not feel it right now, but I pray you can see yourself the way He sees you, the way He made you, the way He defines you. He calls you beautiful, and lovely, and awe-inspiring, and captivating, and wonderful, and worth it, and stunning, and delightful, and pure, and strong, and brave, and confident. And, girl, that's exactly how He made you and that is who you are!

Whatever you may be going through and whatever you may have gone through in the past, or whatever is ahead, I believe you can make it, you can achieve your goals to be healthy. You are strong, you are beautiful, and you can do it. Never, ever, ever give up, and let Him tell you who you are! And if you need to, just go ahead and go say this to your mirror ... !

Sorry you won't define me
Sorry you don't own me
Who are you to tell me
That I'm less than what I should be?
Who are you?
Who are you?
I don't need to listen
To the list of things I should do
I won't try,
I won't try.
You don't define me!

And after all that seriousness, I couldn't help but add this picture in light of the topic : )

Sorry for being so lengthy with this post, hopefully no one minds ... and I guess if you do, you probably didn't read it! haha.

And don't forget, Abbie at Foods That Fit is putting together a Blogger Cookbook (she's awesome, isn't she? ... such a great idea!) So check it out if you want to be apart of it and spread the news : )

Have a fabulous weekend ... may it be full of everything good!!! (it's looks like mine might be full of cold weather and snow ... yuck!)