Mirror Mirror
“It’s hard to fight an enemy who has outposts in your head.” ~Sally Kempton
When we were young, and we looked into a mirror, most of us saw someone we liked. Just like the little girl in the picture above, we made faces at ourselves, sometimes puffing up our cheeks with air, widening our eyes, sticking out our tongue, playing.
Now as an adult, when you look in a mirror, what do you see? Are you constantly checking to see if your hair is okay, or if something is lodged in your teeth? Or worse, do you look and then quickly look away because the image reflecting back at you is something you hate to see?
If you are young and find yourself attractive, do you compare your reflection to someone else’s? Today you might be on top, but what about tomorrow, next year, ten years from now?
If you are older, do you look and think of the time when you were young and better looking, wishing time would have stopped years ago?
The next time you look at a reflection of yourself, pay attention to what that voice in your head says. No one else is in there criticizing you or comparing you to someone more attractive. That is all you.
Just stare at your reflection and listen to what comes up. Don’t look away. You have to get to know the voice that is causing you to hate yourself.
Why?
Because once you realize that these are thoughts of self-hate, created by past experiences, comparison, or attachment to a standard that you will never be able to hold in place, you can stop believing them.
You can then look beyond and into yourself, like the little girl in the picture above. She is not thinking, “I am not pretty enough, young enough, good enough,” because she has not lost her innocence.
That is self-love, total, radical, self-acceptance. It is a return to innocence.
Peace and Joy,
