"Somewhere" in between.......

I am not an AVID Oprah watcher...BUT-I do like SOME of the topics she has on and today I hit the JACKPOT!
I caught about the last 1/2 of it.
It was all about Women's Beauty from around the world.
I turned it on when they were talking about Mauritania.
I know...NEVER heard of it right?
LOL
Me neither.
FIGURES.....
Anyway...Mauritania.
It is a place in Africa, on the west coast where:
(according to Oprah and Wikipedia! LOL)
The cultural idea of beauty encourages consumption of high fat foods such as camel's milk, to ensure that young women attain sufficient size. Overweight individuals would be considered attractive in this culture. Stretch marks are also considered attractive, as are large ankles and bottoms. Obesity is so revered among Mauritania's population that the young girls are sometimes force-fed to obtain a weight the government has described as "life-threatening". Force-feeding has now been officially outlawed but still takes place in some areas of the country.

REALLY?
Oprah was Hilarious talking to this woman...
But for me it REALLY made me think.
I TRY not to be consumed about my weight.
If all day long I am THINKING about my weight or how I look...there is a problem.
That is the EXACT definition of a "false idol"..Right?
But...and it is a HUGE BUTT(no pun intended!)
Its hard NOT to be SOMEWHAT consumed.
In our society we are BOMBARDED with images, magazines, models, more images THEN- to top it off SKINNY JEANS.
LOL...
From the time we are little girls we are ENSLAVED by a "THOUGHT".
A "THOUGHT".
I know...I had to sit and think about it for a moment also.
A "THOUGHT".
We ate TAUGHT to "think" that SKINNY is beautiful and "curvy" is fat.
CRAZY......
Sometimes "skinny" IS beautiful.
But "curvy" is NEVER fat!
TRUTHFULLY....I want to be thin.
I want to be able to put on ANYTHING in my closet and GO.
But REALLY-I want to be fit and healthy...but I am NO LONGER willing to "sell my soul" to get it.
ALL I am willing to do is eat healthy and exercise.
YET- on the other side of the globe there is a place where an entire society is "enslaved" by a "thought" also.
They are the EXACT opposite of THIS society.
Being FORCE-FED and ONLY thinking about putting ON weight also falls into the "worshiping a false idol" category.
It really made me realize that "beauty" is a false idol.
Vanity comes in MANY ways.
It sneaks in where you least expect it.
We chase "thinness" while they chase "fatness".
It makes me think of Proverbs 31.



Charm is deceptive, and beauty is fleeting;
but a woman who fears the LORD is to be praised.

31 Give her the reward she has earned,
and let her works bring her praise at the city gate.

Tonight I am MORE aware of MY INWARD "struggle".
Tonight I will DREAM of "SOMEWHERE" in my mind.
"Somewhere" half way between Mauritania and America.
"Somewhere" in my mind...