Parable of Little Pearl: Thou Shalt Love Thy Body!

"Help!" Little Pearl called. She yelled and yelled; however, no one could hear her. After many hours and days and weeks of yelling, she finally gave up. She curled up on the room's only chair, shivering and shaking with the cold.

Little Pearl spent some time trying to recall if there had been happier times. "Yes, there was. I know there was. When my host had a thin little body, there were more happy times than sad. Oh, there was that time when her mother kept bemoaning the fact that she was going to waste away if she wouldn't ear more of the food on her plate. There were also the times when jealous acquaintances accused her of being too thin. In defense of herself, she would lie and claim to be fat." That caused Little Pearl some problems. But all in all, she was happy. She was free to move around. She certainly wasn't trapped in that cold, cold hut.

Then one day, her host truly did begin to put on some weight. She began that seemingly endless cycle of dieting that felt like punishment and deprivation. She would lose some weight and then gain back even more weight. Once her host got caught up in a lonely marriage where the only thing she had in common with her spouse was eating out, she decided that food was equivalent to love. She began to eat more and more to try to fill and soothe those lonely, depressed feelings. By the time of her divorce, she had put on loads of weight. That was around the time that Little Pearl's troubles really began.

Little Pearl had been walking along when she heard a loud scary sound that scared her. She darted into a small hut and the lock clicked shut. Little Pearl was trapped.

From inside the hut, Little Pearl heard the sound again. It was a little more muffled this time, but still distinct. Her host was standing in front of a mirror staring hard at her reflection. Her host complained aloud, "You're fat and ugly! No man in his right mind will ever want to be with you!"

Little Pearl felt deep fear freeze her heart. She looked around the one-roomed hut for some way to escape. But there were no windows, no fireplace, no closet with secret door, no ventilation she could crawl through, no furniture other than a bare cot and a hard chair, and one locked door.

Her host kept throwing more and more word weapons at herself. The word weapons turned into sleet and snow piling up around the outside of the lonely hut. The snow and sleet stuck to the outside of the hut, further entrapping Little Pearl. She was slowly freezing to death.

As the word weapons continued, the inside of the hut began to be coated with snow and ice. Little Pearl would wander back and forth between cot and chair, trying to find a way to get warm.

Little Pearl prayed for help! Her host, not knowing of Little Pearl's presence, continued to voice words of hate at her stomach and hips and thighs. Every word caused the ice to thicken inside and outside Little Pearl's hut. Thankfully, an angel became aware of Little Pearl's plight. The angel made a coat magically appear inside the hut. Little Pearl joyfully grabbed it up and put it on. Miraculously, with Little Pearl feeling a little bit of warmth, her host actually eased up a bit on using her word weapons against herself.

That didn't last though. Her host would find an outfit she liked but couldn't fit into. The word weapons would resume. Her host would be snubbed by a guy she found attractive. The word weapons would continue. Her host would see a picture of a slim model or actress. The word weapons would intensify. Her host would listen to an infomercial or receive a mailing detailing some new weight loss miracle promise. She would purchase the program. The word weapons suspended themselves until she became convinced that this was another failed diet attempt. The word weapons would then become deafening.

The angel made another layer of coat or blanket appear to warm Little Pearl's chilled body. Before long, all that could be seen of Little Pearl's body was a bit of her face. The rest of her was covered from head to toe with warm coverings.

One day, the angel found a way to alert Little Pearl's host to the presence of Little Pearl. Since her host was a woman of compassion for everyone but herself, she felt immediately contrite. She called out to Little Pearl, "I'm sorry, Little Pearl! I didn't realize! I'll do better! I promise to help get you out of there."

Little Pearl barely heard her, so covered she was with insulation. But she did feel a little bit of hope that perhaps things would get better.

Determined to free Little Pearl from her cold prison, her host stood herself in front of the mirror. She searched and searched for something complimentary to say about her body. She started with the easy stuff. She said to herself, "You have beautiful brown eyes!"

A small amount of snow and ice began to melt around the outside of Little Pearl's hut.

"You have a pretty smile that can light up a room!"

Some more snow and ice began to melt.

"You have small, graceful wrists."

More melting occurred.

"You have long, slender fingers and pretty feet."

Drip! Drip! Drip!

"You have pretty hair."

Drip! Drip! Drip!

Her host had to really search for words that she could sincerely say now that all the easy parts of her body had been mentioned. Then she remembered the Fine Arts class she had taken in college. "Oh, yeah! You have a body like you would find in those Ruben paintings! Curving! Pleasingly plump! Rubenesque!"

Big chunks of ice and snow fell away from the hut. The hut now could be clearly seen and gotten to. Little Pearl's host began to feel some heart's ease. All day long she practiced celebrating that she had a Rubenesque body. The more she practiced, the more she believed.

Determined to save Little Pearl from her icy tomb, her host continued to praise her body. "Look at your shapely hips! Look at your curvy bust! Look at your round stomach! Look at how sexy you are!" She even practiced moving in a sensual, alluring-type way.

Now the ice began melting away from the inside of the hut. Little Pearl was still covered with coats and covering, but the hut was a lot more comfortable to be in.

It didn't happen overnight. But as her host learned to truly love and appreciate her body, Little Pearl began to shed some of the outer coverings she was wearing.

Every now and then, her host would backslide. Instantly, a layer of coats or blankets re-attached themselves to Little Pearl's body. Feeling contrite, her host would double her efforts to continue learning to love and appreciate her Rubenesque body. It helped that there were more stores that sold attractive clothes for Plus Size Women. As her host began to truly believe that she was beautiful in her own way, Little Pearl began to be able to shed multiple layers of the coats and blankets.

Then her host found a man who truly found her beautiful and sexy and desirable. She felt so loved and pampered that she was even more convinced that she had a beautiful body.

One day, the lock clicked open on Little Pearl's hut. Little Pearl was able to walk out of that prison wearing only a sun dress. The love her host felt for herself and Little Pearl so warmed her that she was now truly free.