Finding Your Identity
“For we know that if our earthly dwelling, a tent, should be destroyed, we have a building from God, a dwelling not made with human hands, eternal in heaven. For in this tent we groan, longing to be further clothed with our heavenly habitation if indeed, when we have taken it off, we shall be found naked. For while we are in this tent we groan and are weighed down, because we don’t wish to be unclothed, but to be further clothed, so that what is mortal may be swallowed up by life. Now the one who has prepared us for this thing is God, who has given us the Spirit as full installment” (2 Corinthians 5:1-5).
Are you satisfied with your physical appearance? Why or why not?
Today, we see on television, magazines, and social media that the ideal person is skinny, well-developed, muscular, clear complexioned, tall and with perfect features. Very few people fit that image.
I, myself, throughout the course of my life experienced my own struggles with body image. In grade school and high school, I was the tall, lanky kid with acne all over my face. I remember feeling so out of place to the point I found myself sitting by myself at lunch… quite frequently. Making the basketball team in 6th grade without knowing how to make a lay up or jump shot didn’t seem to make a difference.
Life got better in high school. I made the J.V. squad as a freshman, but sought out the opportunity to play some on the freshman team just to be able to play the game I was falling in love with. Even then, I felt self-conscious about how I looked in the locker room. Yeah, I had the tall and skinny features, but I didn’t have the look of an athlete with the six pack and toned arms.
College had its own obstacles with the lack of discipline in taking care of my body, to the point I gained the freshman 15… for some reason it didn’t dawn on me what I was doing by eating a pint of ice cream a day. It became more clear as my pants were feeling tighter and more difficult to button up around the waste.
Eventually, this got addressed with bringing some exercise back into my lifestyle by going to the gym and even started going to a Zumba class. I still struggled with what I saw in the mirror. I still didn’t have the six pack or toned arms. In addition, I was still struggling with acne, and was convinced that was why I couldn’t get a guy to like me. So, I tried all kinds of things based on popular belief to include cutting out meals… the sad part was I was already tall and thin. I found myself struggling with anxiety which caused me not to eat well, not sleep, and developed other complications due to poor healthy choices.
Then, I found a friend, Mara, who took me under her wing like a big sister. Mara essentially became my accountability buddy in helping me to refocus on eating enough just to function and reminded me of the necessity to take care of my body. As a Zumba instructor, Mara emphasized that the body as a dwelling place of the Holy Spirit.
Therefore, taking care of this body with healthy eating habits and exercise was in fact necessary. In the process, Mara helped me to better understand the holistic (body, mind, spirit) aspects of the health journey, starting with my inner appearance. The poor choices I was making towards my physical health had an impact on my mental health and spiritual health as well.
By not feeding my spirit adequately in between Mass attendances and retreats, I didn’t have a solid foundation. I was also limiting my potential to become the best version of myself that God was calling me to be. This was helping me to understand that I can’t respond to the needs of others without making sure I am equipped, or fed.
It’s been many years since I’ve known Mara, and we both continue to live our lives to the best of our abilities as wives and mothers. Mara has inspired me to continue to engage in healthy habits focused on developing my faith, feeding my body adequately, getting some exercise, and of course planning to have some fun. She expresses this through her Zumba, while I’ve taken this knowledge, experience and passion into my health coaching business.
For both of us, it starts with how we nourish ourselves on the inside. It starts with knowing how much Christ loves you and surrendering to Him and allowing Him to have access as Lord of your life. His health and fitness plan does not involve crazy crash diets, workouts that burn out our bodies, steroids, or plastic surgery, but one of self-control. His plan is one of trust that He already has this figured out by providing food from the earth and the ability to move in ways that keep the body healthy and functional.
His approach is not about the shallow physical transformation, but that of the whole person, in helping you to become fully human, just like Jesus who is also fully human. As Christians, we are called to rise above the culture’s approach to reduce the person to their physical qualities, and pursue your hearts deepest desires and learn to appreciate the beauty of you and your body.