How my Faith Fits Into All of This

Most of you probably know I am a religious person. I don't intend for this blog to be about my religion, but I can't talk about myself without talking about it. It is so much a part of who I am. For any who don't already know, I am a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. I'm a Mormon.

So here are some thoughts about how my faith affects this whole process. It's really about what my fundamental beliefs are, and how those affect my choices. For starters, I believe that I am a child of a loving Father who knows me personally and wants me to succeed in every good thing in my life. He gave me a physical body so that I could experience this world, and so that I could be challenged, and so that I can grow. I believe that my purpose in life is to take this body he has given me and learn to be in control of it and use it for good things, like serving others and making the world a better place. We all have amazing potential as human beings to use our bodies for good. God is watching us to see what we will do, and he is there to help us on our journey if we ask for help. And one of the most important things God has given us is agency, or the freedom to make our own choices. I'm in charge of my body and what I do with it. Have you every heard anyone say, "This is just the way I am," as an excuse for some character flaw? Well, I prefer not to use that excuse. I make my own choices, and I get to decide who I'm going to be.

Being human can be hard. All people have a physical weakness or challenge of one kind or another. Some may have disabilities. Some may have illnesses. Some may be tempted by alcohol or other substances, while some achieve amazing things with their body, like Olympic athletes and mommies. There are a million ways to use or misuse your body for good or bad, for joy or misery, to bless others or to hurt others. This might be a good spot for me to express that I also believe that we have a Savior, Jesus Christ, who knows exactly how we feel all of the time, because he has felt it for us. He knows what it feels like to struggle with a temptation, an addiction, abuse, or any other physical or emotional pain we feel, because he felt it too. That way, he has perfect empathy. When I am struggling and I think, "This is really hard!" I imagine him saying to me, "I know, right? But I know you can beat this. I'm here to help you."

I believe that physical appetites are meant to be overcome and controlled. When our children are little, we teach them not to hit and bite. We teach them to clean their rooms or go out to play when they would rather sit and watch TV. We encourage them to study and develop their talents. We try to teach them to eat healthy food, as opposed to always eating the stuff that tastes the best. We encourage them to be kind, to share, and to serve others, rather than only taking care of themselves. These are all ways in which we teach them to overcome or control their physical bodies.

This part is important: When I make choices to control my bodily appetites and tendencies, and to let my spirit be stronger than my body, I know that I grow closer to God. It strengthens me and makes me a better person. Did any of you see the movie Wall-E? Remember the people who lived in the space station? I feel like them sometime. They were nice, good people, but no one taught them the importance of caring for their bodies. They were weakened because of lack of exercise. Our bodies and our spirits work the same way. Both can be exercised and strengthened. When we stretch ourselves to do hard things, both physically and spiritually, we gain strength and we grow in our capacity to do more.

In many ways, I know that God is pleased with the things that I have done in my life, and the things that I do. But when it comes to the way I have neglected the health of my body, I know that I can do better. Some people in my situation would get gastric bypass surgery. That's their choice and that's fine. But I have decided that I won't do something like that. The main reason is because I look forward to the personal spiritual growth that I can gain as I do this very hard thing. There have been times when this idea was very scary for me, like jumping off a cliff or something. Thanks to you and your support, it doesn't feel that way this time. It's more like simply moving forward one step at a time. As I learn to be in control of my body and let my spirit choose what is best for me, I know that I will grow as a person and become stronger. Every time I make a hard choice, I can feel myself getting a tiny bit stronger. And I don't expect myself to be perfect. I just want to keep making progress in the right direction. I actually get excited when I think about this process. I am eager to become that stronger version of me. I look forward to further opportunities to do good because I will have become a better Suzy. And I know that my Father is cheering me on, every step of the way.