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Thursday, December 3, 2009

A Rant on Self-Acceptance & Obesity

Hi Folks -

I'm going to go on a bit of a rant here, because I feel very strongly about the subject. I just finished watching one of my favorite guilty pleasure shows - Nip Tuck - and I'm really upset.

Here's why:

This week, the show decided to touch upon the subject of obesity, self-acceptance, acceptance of others for "who they are," and being confident about who you are. I gotta say, I'm really irate. Angry, pissed-off, and fed-up. I've seen the message this week's episode displayed SO many times, I'm done with it. It's the message that says, "Obesity is beautiful, and if you're obese - it's okay." Oh yeah, and obese people are happy people.

Just what this country needs, right!? WRONG!

I'm going to keep this as short as possible, and get to what *I* think the message SHOULD be and NEEDS to be. Do we have to tell people to hate themselves and their bodies? No. Do we need people to feel bad about who they are to change? No. Do we need to tell people it's okay to be fat to make them feel better about themselves? Heck no.

So what should we be telling people? How about, "You are not your body." Your body is a reflection of your Self. Your Self can be whatever you'd like to call it. Your "consciousness," your "soul" or "spirit," your "mind." Think about it - if you're a 20 year old star athlete who graduates college, gets married, has a kid, and becomes obese along the way thanks to that 10 hour-a-day desk job, what's really changed? Are you suddenly a bad person that's unworthy of being loved, who should no longer love oneself? That doesn't make any sense. Smokers aren't bad people because they smoke. They merely choose to engage in an unhealthy behavior because they have misplaced values. Therefore, in the case of the athlete, I see a person whose values have changed. And I see that everywhere I go. I see people who have allowed their mind to become distracted to the point of developing a sickness that's reflected by their bodies and perpetuated by their behaviors. Should we look at this sickness and say, "Hey - it's okay! It happens! Stay fat, unhappy, and unhealthy! We'll all pretend it's okay to be sick!" NO. (And for those of you with the excuse that it's your genetics - sorry, it's not. That's an excuse that will only keep you from changing in a positive way. Go on the show Survivor and not lose weight, and I *might* buy your "genetics" problem. But I digress.)

We're all worthy of being loved by ourselves and others. We all deserve to be happy. Our bodies need to reflect that. It's not healthy to be obese, and it's certainly not okay. People in this country are killing themselves with sedentary, gluttonous lifestyles. If you saw someone with a loaded gun in their mouth, would you try to stop them from pulling the trigger? Of course - but only because you know there isn't much time left before they die. Just because there's more time involved with a person killing themselves by food and inactivity, doesn't mean there's not a loaded gun in their mouth that could go off at any second. If you really want to love someone, show them you do by helping them realize they can change their bodies for the better. Show them they can have a healthy body and live happier lives. But don't tell them it's okay to be obese. Don't enable their sickness. Help them change their values.

Your Self is a possession worth loving, accepting, and being confident in. Let your body be a healthy reflection of that.

Have a great day, and be careful about what messages you buy into and sell back to the people in your life!

Ross

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