I love Elder Nelson's talk in conference, I felt it was especially for those of us who struggle with ED's, In the footnotes of his talk it even mentions Eating Disorders. It says "Some are tempted to eat too much, Obesity has reached epidemic proportions globally, with at least 2.8 million people dying each year as a result of being overweight. Others are tempted to eat too little. Anorexia and bulimia devastate many lives, marriages and families."
I love this talk because it emphasizes that our spiritual attributes are who we are, and that is what really matters. Elder Nelson points our attributes such as bravery, courage, integrity of heart, a thirst for truth, a hunger for wisdom, and a desire to serve others.
"Each time you look in the mirror see your body as your temple. That TRUTH- refreshed gratefully each day- can positively influence your decisions about how you will care for your body and how you will use it. And those decisions will determine your destiny. How could this be? Because your body is the temple for your spirit. And how you use your body affects your spirit. Some of the decisions that will determine your eternal destiny are:
1. How will you choose to care for and use your body?
2. What spiritual attributes will you choose to develop?"
It is important for us to take care of our bodies through balanced and moderate diet and exercise so that we can develop attributes like self mastery- Putting reason over bodily appetites-, self-control, healthy minds and everything else that taking care of our bodies obviously brings us. I can tell the BIGGEST difference in my body and spirit when I am taking care of my body through healthy diet and exercise. That is ultimately what recovery is, taking care of ourselves- body, mind and spirit. Health includes ALL three, the WHOLE being. I feel like people put too much emphasize on just the physical and taking it to an extreme where its actually damaging to the mind and spirit. But when all three are considered and used in balance with healthy priorities that brings TRUE HEALTH, the kind of health that brings as Elder Nelson says longer life, greater love, and consummate joy.
Our bodies are our greatest blessing and tool to become our best selves and receive all that the father has, even eternal life.
Our bodies are a Gift and it is our responsibility to care for them. Ye are not your own. I feel like if we always looked at our bodies with an eternal perspective it would take care of Bad body image, under eating and over eating. Bottom line to recovery is to take care of our bodies. Fad diets are bad for your body, over eating is bad for your body, too much exercise is bad for your body. No exercise is bad for your body. Elder Nelson talks about self mastery and I think that is the key to overcoming Eating Disorders, especially binge eating. That's a whole other post on its own, which I will do next!
Elder Nelson also shows mercy in saying that none of us are perfect. Be patient with
yourself as you always try to do your best and learn and become better. Just be better then you were yesterday, and if you have a bad day, pick yourself back up. TRUE healing, true strength, true CHANGE, comes ONLY through the atonement of Jesus Christ. Let him heal you. Elder Nelson says We can change our behaviors, our very desires can change. Jesus Christ is the way! The only way. He can help you change, he can help you recover. I testify of that. The closer you draw to him the stronger you will become. Rely wholly on him. He will make you strong. We are given weaknesses that we will be humble and show faith in Jesus Christ and know where our strength comes from. Then will our weaknesses be made into strengths. There is nothing that brings more comfort, peace, deep down happiness, contentment, purpose, and strength than following Jesus Christ and putting our lives in his hands. As to my strength I am weak, I will not boast of myself, But I will boast of my God. By yourself you cannot do it, but with him you can. In the strength of the Lord I can do ALL things. Is there anything too hard for the Lord. You can recover! Life is SO good. I love my savior. He loves you, more than you can even fathom. You have a divine identity, and purpose here on earth. And this is not where it ends. This earth life is only a blimp in time. There is more! there is purpose and meaning. Our father in heaven has known us for a long time. We lived with him and our heavenly mother before we can to earth. They want nothing for us but our ultimate happiness. His commandments are guidelines to happiness. He knows you, he loves you and he wants you back. If you want to learn more, go here.
If you are struggling with an ED to any degree or even with body image, eating, or any kind of addiction I really believe this talk from Elder Nelson will help so much. It has really inspired me and given me some answers to questions I've been having about recovery. I am SO grateful for the true church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints and for a living prophet and apostles that tell us all things that Jesus Christ would say to us himself. That is amazing! It's a blessing to have absolute truth in a confusing and frustrated world.
Each day is a day of Decision and your decisions will determine your destiny. You can choose to recover or not. You can choose to binge or not. You can choose to take care of your body or not. You can choose to focus on your spiritual attributes or not. The choice is yours.
All things are possible to those that BELIEVE.
Find Elder Nelson's talk here
Much Love
LOVE IT!! :)
ReplyDeleteMegan, thanks sweetie. You truly inspire me. Love ya tons!!!
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