Day 7 - Super Model or Super Sad?

Jennifer Strickland

Have you ever wanted to be a model? Or maybe just compared yourself to the perfect looking images you see on magazines and billboards? Well, I know I have. But today, I got to hear an ex-high fashion model tell a very sad story about what many of us may have otherwise thought was a desirable and glamorous life style.

Here's what happened: I met with a lovely and long time friend of mine (Lisa- who has a blog of her own that you can check out) for a women's business luncheon, today. As their guest speaker they had this very attractive, 6 ft. tall, ex-international high fashion model who shared her story of the battle of trying to look and be perfect in the all too often over glamorized modeling industry. She was featured in Vogue, Cosmopolitan, Teen Magazine and on an on. She also did commercials for Oil of O'lay, Mercedes Benz, and several other well known brands. She was even chosen to be the "live" barbie for the 35th anniversary of Barbie in Italy. Sounds exciting, right? WRONG! There's more to the story...

The model's name is Jennifer Strickland. She is a lovely speaker and she's written a book called "Girl Perfect." Her story in many ways is relevant really for all of us. She talked about how we all wear mask (something I have talked about for years) and how we don't let others know what is really going on inside. (Sound familiar?) How we try to measure up to someone else's idea of "perfect" when what we really want is to just be loved for who we are - not for what we look like.

She goes on to share how she got into modeling and how her success looked to those on the outside like she was living the "high life" when in fact she was living a "horrifying life" being used, abused and eventually ending up with deep depression and anorexia . She also mentioned that anorexia and bulimia are quite common among models. It was extremely difficult and heartbreaking to hear the details of her life! You can learn more about her story at http://jenniferstrickland.net/ .

I couldn't help but relate to her story with some of my own life journey experiences and challenges. Plus, I noted the incredible timing of hearing her story along with the timing of this new goal of taking my own body back! It felt like I was suppose to hear it. So, I thought sharing this might be helpful to some of you guys. I sure hope so.

You know, as we walk together and work on taking our bodies back, let's keep our heads on straight and realize that we are deeply loved by God - unconditionally! But with that said, I also believe that he wants us to be healthy, fit and victorious and enjoy our lives fully - AND he has provided his grace for us to have just that.

Mucho love guys and until tomorrow ~ sweet and slender dreams!