SPC Politics

i hear it often, women complaining about their bulging muffin top. but could someone please explain to me why we refer to our bulbous belly as the very best part of the muffin? the sugary, baked goodness of a muffin top cannot be rivaled. i can't help but wonder if by trying to get rid of the beloved muffin top, are we really consigning ourselves to a lifetime of stale muffin bottoms?

my goal for 2008 is to eliminate waste. i'm still committed to that resolution and am finding peace daily as i reduce the unnecessary. at times i still find myself worrying about weight, about size, about opinions; i am an american woman after all. but what is it all for? when i look at another person i don't size them up wondering how much they weigh, what size they are, where that zit came from, how large their mammaries are at this moment. so why do we do it to ourselves?

i believe firmly in health, in the body's ability to heal itself. and while i'm not exactly practicing what i preach with nutrition, i also believe in spirituality, in the ability that joy has to transform a person. i believe in the power of prayer as well, as i know that one of the main reasons i've lost my weight is because i gave God an ultimatum (not the wisest idea, i know!) i told my Heavenly Father that i wasn't going to have any more children until i lost my weight, i asked for his help in overcoming the pounds. and despite my worst efforts nutritionally, i've lost every ounce from this pregnancy. i still have 25 pounds to go to be at my *healthy* weight.

what am i saying by all of this? i'm not completely sure, but a few thoughts jump out at me:

first, let's be a little more gentle with ourselves. God made us exactly the way we are for a reason, try to find beauty in what he gave to us. why do we allow society to label true beauty?

second, let's trust God once in awhile (i would suggest always, but baby steps are still steps).

third, let's enjoy our lives a little more. if that means making cream sauce with noodles and enjoying a family meal, then so be it! if that means grabbing your kids and a kite and running through the park, then consider yourself healthy enough to do it. treadmills, bran, and nike have never brought me joy.

i was just given a link to this AMAZING article. please enjoy.

i've never blogged about politics before and i probably never will again... it's something that i'm honestly extremely heated about. but even when i talk politics with friends i NEVER discuss immigration policy. because very simply, i find it to be racist. so when i found this article, i was quite happy to find someone with some similar ideas:

Mormons for Peace: Racism

i struggled for years with my own identity as a white girl in utah, because very simply i think that white people in america are arrogant, ignorant, and selfish. maybe it's because i always cheer for the underdog. maybe it's because i know that so many immigrants are intelligent and harder working than most american's themselves. i have a friend from south africa that was a pharmacist there, but because of the instability of the government and for the lives of his daughters, he moved them here. only to not be able to be a pharmacist here without years of more schooling and qualifying hoops and testing. he lived in squallor for those years with his family in order to obtain the "american dream."

something does need to change. and i'm not even sure what the answer is. but i shudder every time i hear the racism of people as they rant about how mexican's need to learn our language or they should just go back to their home land. i think that everyone deserves love and kindness.