Dying To Be Thin

I feel compelled to write about the subject of eating disorders for a couple of reasons. First and foremost, is because so many young girls and women are bombarded with images from the media every day telling them that they are just not thin enough, don't have big enough boobs, don't have a perfect face, and so on. More than it making me sick, it mostly makes me so sad. The other reason that I am writing about this is because I too struggle with an eating disorder and have since I was about twelve years old. Now I am not saying that the media is the only one to blame. Many children and even adults make fun of females for being "fat". Many times it's some kids in a girls class at school. Even sadder though, is when it's a girls own mother or father, aunt or uncle, brother or sister, etc. Any what really makes me angry about this is that the majority of this country's population is clinically obese!!! With many young women though, it is an issue of control, having complete control of this aspect of their lives possibly when everything else in their lives is a mess. And yes, people can be overly controlling of many different things. They can be exercise nuts, clean freaks, overly controlling of another person in a relationship, etc. There are many roads that one can take if they feel a loss of control in their lives, but when women (and yes, some men) choose an eating disorder, it's 99% likely that it was introduced to them at some time in their lives. Somehow they learned that this is something that they can do, from reading about it, seeing it on t.v., one of their classmates in school, etc. In other countries, this is not an issue, not even an idea! Third-world countries where a girl would die to just have a loaf of bread for her and her family to share, not be literally, purposefully, dying to be thin. If we look at the bigger picture like that, the whole idea of starving oneself  or binging and purging (throwing up) seems so ridiculous and petty. Nourishment is something that all living things must have to survive. If animals don't eat, they will eventually die. Their bodies will begin to eat themselves. And yes, we may be more evolved and complex, but we are still animals. Eating disorders can be so hard to kick, especially if it has been hardwired into someones brain at such an early age. It can be all someone knows to do to give themselves comfort, a sense of satisfaction or accomplishment. It could also be a form of one's own punishment to themselves for not meeting up to their own or someone else's high expectations. Being an anorexic or bulimic is just like being an alcoholic. One may not be a practicing alcoholic anymore, but it's still there. It is still something that one has to manage every day. The thought may cross one's mind to vomit up what they just ate, but one must tell themselves "NO!!! This is not a healthy thing to do, and I LOVE MYSELF way too much to hurt myself". And really what this all comes down to is a lack of self-love and self-respect. We need to be able to look in the mirror and be able to say "I am a human being, I am beautiful, and I love myself." Please, I know it's hard, but don't worry about what others think and say if it is negative and brings you down!!! This is the body that you were given for this lifetime. For an entire lifetime, you are stuck with yourself and yourself only. There is no guarantee that someone else will always love you and be there for you, so you have to LOVE YOURSELF. Truly loving one's self is one of the hardest things to do. For most everyone, it is a lifelong journey. Living with an eating disorder is not a way to live. It is so time consuming and detrimental. We could be doing so many more productive things with our time, like HELPING someone else instead of HURTING ourselves. Please, if you or anyone that you know have an eating disorder, try to get them some form of help. The problem doesn't go away on one's own. And please, tell them that you love them and that true beauty is on the inside...