It seems like we always want the things that we don’t have. This can apply to many things but for now I’m only talking about our physical bodies. There are tons of people out there wishing they were born with different physical attributes than those they have.
For instance, hair! I have had many women remark to me that they wish they had natural curls. They have this illusion that having curly hair would be so much easier and they wouldn’t have to spend so much time on their hair if it just had a little curl to it. Well I am here to tell you that curls have a mind of their own. You never know how they are going to look and if you try to coax them into something they don’t want to do, you end up with frizz! On the other hand, I look at women with straight hair and think how smooth and shiny it looks. Curls don’t reflect light like straight hair does so it never gets that shine you see on healthy straight hair. I imagine that women with straight hair can just wash and go and their hair looks great. They don’t have to worry about high humidity making it frizzy. And you can run your fingers through it, something that’s impossible with curls!
Another example is the thigh gap frenzy. Yes, I said frenzy! I’ve never even heard of this until the last couple of years. Women are dieting and exercising like crazy with the goal of having a gap between their thighs when they are standing straight. It seems silly to be fixated on that. But the converse to that is women who have been teased about having skinny legs their whole life who hate their thigh gap. These women are lunging and squatting while trying to consume enough protein to grow some thigh muscles. They are hoping to be able to fill out the leg hole in a pair of shorts.
There are many things that we can do to change what we were born with and it seems like the more we must sacrifice to get something, the more satisfaction we have with it once we have obtained it. Like the woman who hits the gym faithfully to get those coveted quadriceps that will fill out her shorts. She is very pleased with the results of her hard work. She is proud of those fuller thighs! Or the woman who wakes up early every morning to straighten her hair, she forgoes sleep in order to achieve what she wants and she is happy with the results.
We tend to look around us and wish for something different than what we have. Take a breath and realize that we are all unique and somewhat imperfect. Others don’t see you the way you see yourself. Some people actually want what you wish you didn’t have! Wouldn’t it be great if we could actually walk in somebody else’s shoes if only for a little while? To be able to experience what it’s really like to have that thing that you covet? Perhaps it’s not really like what you think it is. It may help us realize that we actually like being the way God made us.
Here is my disclaimer: I believe that it’s ok to make sacrifices and work hard to make changes that we want. I am NOT advocating making radical changes to the bodies that we have. I also don’t advise making permanent changes in order to follow a current trend. I am simply making observations about human nature.