The mirror doesn’t lie
“Magic mirror, on the wall – who is the fairest one of all?”
Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs
I remember the day my mother said she didn’t recognize her own face. For clarity, she was completely mentally intact. Her issue was one of acceptance.
“When did I get to be an old lady?” she asked no one in particular.
She’d washed her face and looked in the mirror and saw a stranger. Her point being…just where did all the years go?
The woman inside was twenty something. Taunt, lean, fresh-faced and bright-eyed. Not the gray, sunken and pale reflection that reminded her of great-grandmother Catherine. (Her assessment, not mine)
Mirrors might as well be broken into pieces for the good they do for our self-esteem.
Because what we see is imperfection.
We use mirrors to nit pick and judge the importance of our physical reflection. Every stray hair in weird places or brown spot or crease makes us wish for a time machine to the past.
But the world sees you in ways the mirror can never reflect — your gifts, talents, skills, personality — the real you.
What we mourn as loss, deterioration, aging…are signs of life.
For all the funny memes and jokes about growing older, we know the truth about what we really see. We just need to make the mirror-head connection.
Lines are smile markers.
Creases are historical evidence of tears divided between happiness and sadness.
Wisdom proclaims itself in graying temples.
You’ve fully ripened like a fine wine. Sweet, deep, full-bodied (oh yeah I said it).
So what if your softening roundness is deposited here and there. It’s where you store your great and varied knowledge — which would look really weird if it were clumped all in one place.
No matter the reflection, the mirror doesn’t lie. The mirror tells us the truth. It says you have lived.
Today, spend time making peace with your reflection. Honor it. Love it. Take care of it.
Tell the reflection that what you see is a mask; a small fraction of your entire being. Yep, it’s changing. Yep, it’s thinner, shapelier days are behind you, literally.
Please know that your inner heart and spirit are where physical flaws go to die because they’re superficial and supersede death.
No one will come to your funeral and say: S/he had a perfectly shaped nose or a enviable jawline.
No, they’ll remember that you were here by how well you used your time and how you made them feel.
Take a good long look in the mirror. Got it?
Now go smash the crap out of it.
BE F-G AWESOME TODAY!
Original graphic and quote: Stephanie DelTorchio
