Obesity isn't a health problem.

I hate it when people think obesity causes health problems.  That is an absolute lie and it doesn't make any sense.

When I was born I was a small baby.  I was also extremely sick.  My parents were told I would die.  I didn't obviously.

My illness had nothing to do with my own weight.  I was just an infant, and I was small for an infant. My illness had nothing to do with my mother's weight.  She was 5 feet exactly and 99 lbs before she got pregnant with me.

I remained skinny throughout my live.  I was active in sports such as swimming, skiing, cycling, horse back riding, and walking.  I also remained sick.  After my surgery as a toddler, I didn't get as sick as that again, but I had frequent infections, and health problems related to the problems I was born with.

In my early 30's I got much sicker, and needed more surgeries.  It was after one of these surgeries, that I was no longer able to take the stairs two at a time (I had to use the elevator) or park a 20 minute walk away from my destination (I had to park closer).  I stopped all forms of exercise, except for walking, because I was too sick to do so.

I also started taking medication that causes weight gain.

I became too sick to cook, nutritious foods made from scratch.  My mother was progressively loosing energy due to her own health problems, and couldn't do that either.  Cooking from scratch takes a lot of time and energy, and Mom and I just didn't have it.  Some days we didn't eat supper, because we didn't have the energy to make it.  We grabbed potato chips instead.  To solve that problem we bought boxed foods, and made them regularly.

Sticking a couple of chicken fingers in the oven is easier than cooking from scratch, and better than eating nothing but potato chips.

And we started gaining weight.

But....

I am not unhealthy because I gained weight.  I was sick for decades before gaining weight.  I am overweight because I am sick.  I don't have the energy to exercise like I once did nor do I have the energy to spend and hour making each meal as I once did.

Obesity is not a health problem.  Health problems can cause obesity, but obesity in itself is not a health problem.

I want to live in a world where empathy and love are more important than weight and beauty.

I'm looking forward to a time, when people aren't judged by things that don't matter.

If everybody in the world was skinny, would the world improve?  Imagine.  The so-called obesity epidemic is over.  Everybody magically lost weight.  Would the world improve?  Would all the wars end?  Would refugees be able to go home?  Would illness, homelessness, and domestic abuse end?

No.  Yet somehow we think our lives will improve.  Why?

If everybody turned beautiful, would the world improve?  Would you're live improve if you never had to look at an ugly person again?  Every woman had her cinderella storey, in which some fairy godmother came around, and gave her beauty, would child abuse end?  What about the school drop out rates?  Childhood poverty?  Would any of it change?

No.  Yet somehow people spend an inordinate amount of time and money,  changing our looks.  But why?  Does it help anybody?  Does an ugly person make the world even worse by being ugly?

Why do we judge each other on superficial things?

I once listened to a radio interview, in which they were discussing "that over-weight singer Adele."  They didn't discuss her singing, her accomplishments or anything.  They just talked about her weight.  As if that made any difference.

We judge each other on weight, beauty, race, gender, sexual-orientation, health, wealth, and a whole bunch of other things we can't change about ourselves.

Why?  If we were all the same would we quit fighting?

Why don't we judge each other on love, kindness, gentleness, empathy, understanding, and how we treat each other?

I want to live in that world.  The one where empathy and kindness are valued more than beauty and weight.  The one where love for others comes with privilege, not being white and male.

I want to live in a world, where domestic abuse is more of a crime than being black.  Where those who have power are the ones that earned it by their kindness, instead of bought it by their money.  Where somebody like Donald Trump isn't even considered good enough for leadership, because he's racist and sexist.  Where the term "but she has a good personality" doesn't exist.

Because what's wrong with having a good personality?