Body Confidence – Why Didn’t God Make Me Perfect?

By Katherine McGee

If you’ve ever stood in front of the mirror, thought you were less than perfect and perhaps said any of the following:

• “If only my lips were thinner/plumper”
• “My hips/bum is too big/small”
• I’m too thin/fat
• My boobs are too small/big
• I’ve no waist
• My nose/ears is too big/small
• I wish I had better hair
• My teeth are too crooked
• I’ve horrible legs

Why did God give me such an ugly body part?

Indian Folklore tells the following story, of the Peacock; this story is for you if you ticked any of the above.

The story of the Peacock

Why has The Peacock – The most beautiful creature ever created, got the ugliest feet in the world!

When God created the Peacock He was delighted, he said, “this creature is completely perfect in every way, he has beautiful jewel-like colours, exquisite proportions, elegant, graceful. God was so proud, and so was the peacock! He held his head high and strutted in superiority.

However, with the passage of time, God became aware that He was the only one admiring the beauty and perfection of the Peacock.

God was amazed to discover that the Peacock went unnoticed and very quickly realized the bird’s perfection was lacking a foil to showcase his beauty, the creature was too perfect and therefore invisible!!! A flaw was needed in the beautiful creature; only a flaw would highlight the Peacocks exquisite beauty.

And so God went back to the drawing board;

After some deliberation, God concluded that the bird’s great beauty would need to be reflected by a flaw of equal measure: He gave the Peacock the ugliest feet in the world.  The Peacock was not happy (it’s said that his screech is his appalled response every time he sees his feet!).

As the recreated Peacock walked away from God on his graceless, clumsy, colourless feet – heads turned, gasps of awe were heard and the other animals said, “What an exquisitely beautiful creature”.  It was agreed, unanimously, the Peacock was, and remains today, the most beautiful creature of the animal Kingdom.

Those who gaze on the Peacock see that he is perfect in every way. “How incredible, said God: “nobody but the peacock notices his feet! And he has discovered a newfound humility and compassion in his imperfection”.

God smiled and was well pleased. He learned his lesson well; when he turned his attention to creating mankind; he remembered the Peacock, and gave all his children unique individual flaws; to highlight our great proportions, elegance, grace and beauty which, in turn, serves to remind us that no one is perfect.

This is the story, as I heard it, many years ago. I love it as much today as I did then. It seems to me, it’s vital to celebrate and embrace our imperfections, for without them we would very likely at best, appear bland and at worst, be invisible!!

If you know more about the origin of the story, or any detail that I have forgotten, I’d love you to connect with me on our Facebook page Marians Bridal. Maybe we might start a discussion that others would like to add to?

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