I want a perfect body, I want a perfect soul.

Since I have already admitted to the blogging world that I sometimes indulge in a trashy read or two, and while I rarely come across anything of substance I did find a recent article that sparked something in me. My roommate brought a bunch or gossip mags home after Christmas and even though every fibre of my being was resisting I found myself picking up the January 3 issue of Life & Style with Heidi Montag on the cover. I must admit that there was a time when I watched The Hills (and every other reality show in between) but I suppose with age and maturity comes a realization that these shows quickly begin to deaden your brain cells.

Anyway, I’m sure everyone who hasn’t been living under a rock over the past year has at least heard about Montag and the ridiculous amount of plastic surgery she underwent, all to attain the unattainable, perfection. While I do not intend to make my post all about Montag, I must say that I feel this incredible mix of disgust, shock and pity at a human being who would go to such great lengths to try and achieve outward perfection. 

The article is basically a big pity party for Montag because as we all could have predicted, the whole multiple plastic surgery thang didn’t exactly work out as she had hoped. Montag goes on, at length, to whine about all the scars and pain she now has to deal with as well as the undeniable Frankenstein feel of the whole ordeal. Life and Style asked Montag how she feels 13 months later and she responded,

“Like a different person. It’s been the hardest year of my life. Even looking in the mirror became a huge deal. Just mentally, where I am and who I am since my surgeries is completely different. I was so caught up in Hollywood that I lost track of priorities.”

Now, I mentioned before that I felt pity of Montag and I feel I need to expand on that. I DO NOT feel sad that she has trouble looking in the mirror, or that she has horrible scars and deals with excessive pain on a daily basis. There are millions of people in this world who also have to deal with those problems everyday and they did not choose to be in that position. However, I do pity the fact that Montag lost track of her priorities and became so delusional that she felt the need to undergo 10 plastic surgery procedures. 

I wish so much that there wasn't a constant focus on how people look and what fits a cookie cutter mold of beautiful and what does not. I know that I get caught up in it too and sometimes it can be really hard to pull my focus back to what is really important. I am a leader at my churchs youth group and our topic for the last couple of weeks has been about the differences between boys and girls, and whether or not we're really that different at all. Something that really strikes me is how much, and how early girls feel pressure to be thin and pretty. Upon asking 13-year-old girls what they associate with the word "girly" almost all of them said something along the lines of "makeup, pink, dressing up and spending a lot of time on your hair". While I don't think any of these connotations are necessarily bad, I do wish that girls knew that there are other ways to be girly and have it pertain to inner beauty.

I know that I have cited this verse before in a previous post but it is one of my favourites and I read it to my small group girls last week, plus it was used in the message on sunday. I really like to read it when I feel I need to be reminded of what's really important, 

 "When the Holy Spirit controls our lives, he will produce this kind of fruit in us: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control." Galatians 5:22-23

This is what we need to focus on. Only when we find real love in our creator, do we remember that we were created to be more than what humans have decided fits as outer beauty.

This week I'm going to try and love people for their insides.

*ish