We are in the throes of costuming a musical, right in the last two weeks before opening night, when everyone is anxious and tired and keyed up. It’s also the point where we always have a few actors, usually women, who stress and even melt down over the complicated emotions they feel about their bodies.

There are lots of very real reasons why people are fearful or anxious about their body, especially in comparison with others, and I don’t want to disparage or minimize those concerns. I understand that disorders can skew perceptions of one’s own appearance, and the stress of performing can trigger maladaptive eating habits. 

But I just want to shout a truth. I suppose I’m shouting it here because I can’t say it there to them. I want to say, “You have waited unimaginable eons to have a body. Yours is not only beautiful, it can sing with haunting beauty, dance with grace and precision, hold up through the rigorous schedule you’re enduring, and leave energy over for the others in your life! Just because Satan and his followers have lost forever their opportunity to have a body, don’t let them influence you to feel ingratitude and loathing for yours!”

There. I feel better.

 My little granddaughter recently told me, as her daddy has taught her, “Comparison is the thief of joy!” She’s absolutely right. I hope she remembers it always, especially in her teens.

I’m grateful for this aging, afflicted, lumpy, achy body that I have. Although I’m glad I know I’ll be trading it in on a new perfected model in the future, I’m so glad for all the things it helps me do and learn right now. I’m grateful for many experiences I could never have imagined without it. I’m so grateful for Father’s plan to let me have it, and my Savior’s sacrifice to assure that the new perfected model will be available when I need it!