Mirror Image

After 18 months, you would think that I would be used to my new body.  WRONG!  I see the sizes on the tag, I see the scale, but my brain has not completely adjusted to my size.  When I look in the mirror, I sometimes see this....

When I should see this...

 

 or this.....

  

The first picture was taken 1 day before my surgery, the second one was taken a few weeks ago, and the last one was taken this morning.  I truly have to look at pictures to see what I really look like.  I wonder if my brain will actually catch up after I finish this last chapter of my weight loss journey.  I was talking to one of my very best friends in the world yesterday, and she asked me what was next after Mexico.  It was so weird to say, "Nothing.  It will be over.  I am finally done."  Will I actually be completely over?  I don't think it will ever be over because I will always have to watch what I eat, make sure I workout, maintain my weight.  BUT, I can guarantee that I will not let myself get obese again.  I missed out on too much of my life being overweight, and I want to enjoy every waking minute of my life and my kids' lives.  Until I lost the weight, I could not see what I had been missing. 

I was searching online tonight and found this discussion:

Genesis 1:27 (New International Version)

 ²⁷ So God created man in his own image,
       in the image of God he created him;
       male and female he created them.

"It is here that we discover ourselves. This is true self-actualization. Only in realizing that we are made in God’s image, can we understand both ourselves and God. In Everything You Ever Wanted to Know About Heaven, Peter Kreeft makes this utterly profound statement: “But we are objects to God (though we are subjects to this world); we too, therefore, are true only when we conform to God’s knowledge of us, God’s artistic plan for our identity. Since our highest freedom means freedom to be ourselves, we are most free when we are most obedient to God’s will, which expresses His idea of us.” That last statement is amazing. God in His infinite wisdom has an idea of us and an ideal for us. It is there we find ourselves completely, fully. What is God’s idea of us? It is grounded in His very being, in the concept that we are made in His image."

So, why are we so hard on ourselves when we are already perfect in our own way? Why can I not accept the way I look when God already says I am made in His image? Now, I look in the mirror, and I still cannot see my true self. I am realizing that I really need to work on this, and this will keep my journey going.