How often when you look at your reflection do you feel like you are looking at one of those fun house mirrors? There are days when I look in the mirror and I’m not really sure what I see. Do I look fat, thin, ugly, pretty, put together, unkempt? As far as I know I have 20/20 vision. So why is it so difficult to see myself accurately?
How many of you have been there? You look in the mirror and the more you stare at yourself, the more the image starts to shift in your head. My thighs will grow from being normal to looking huge right in front of my eyes. Were they always like that? Or maybe my stomach has gotten a little smaller which is making my thighs look larger. Or maybe my shirt is hitting my pants in a weird spot accentuating my big thighs. Or maybe my hair is just out of place, throwing the rest of me off-balance. Or maybe….
Gosh, sometimes you just need to take a breath.
The thing to remind myself when my mirror is acting wacky, is that my mirror is just a piece of glass. It doesn’t have special powers. It isn’t going to tell me that I look ugly. It isn’t that mean kid from junior high who shouted nasty one-liners at me down the hall. It is a lifeless object. Just an innocent piece of wood and glass.
The mean bully is my own mind.
Next time I look in the mirror and the reflection starts acting funky, I ‘m going to have a few choice words with my bully of a brain. I’m going to tell it to stop shouting nasty things at me. I’m going to tell it to stop making up rumors and lies. I’m going to tell it to stop being hateful and spiteful.
Fun house mirrors are for carnivals, not my house.
Then once my brain is better behaved, I’m gonna look at myself again. This time my brain is going to say something nice to me. Because once you have a cooperative brain, the mirror will reflect something beautiful.
