DISTORTED MIRRORS

DISTORTED MIRRORS

I have the best mirror in my bedroom. It makes me look just a tad leaner. My outfits look so great when I stand in front of that mirror in the morning!

I LOVE that mirror.

However, I have another mirror in the living room. This mirror doesn’t quite tell the truth either. This one will distort my shape depending on where I am standing. Unfortunately, the distortion always makes me look wider than I am in reality.

I HATE that mirror.

Neither mirror is an accurate reflection of my appearance, but they both have the ability to impact the way I feel about myself.

After laughing with some friends about these mirrors, I realized how often we look into distorted mirrors.

We hold others up to ourselves and look to see how we compare. Sometimes the comparisons make us feel like we are doing alright. Look that mom is chasing after a toddler who is running through the store screaming and kicking people as he goes. I am such a good mom compared to her.

Other times, the comparison makes us feel we will never measure up. Wow, look at her perfectly tan, skinny body as she works with her twelve well behaved, perfectly dressed children to build a house for a homeless couple. I am the ugliest, most selfish, worst mother to ever live.

These reflections are distortions because we are comparing ourselves to moments, glimpses, or ideas of what others are. It is fun to feel good about ourselves, but we don’t need to look down on others to do it.

We hurt ourselves when we hold ourselves and others to unrealistic ideas of what we are or should be.

The truth is somewhere in the middle of both the mirrors of my home and the examples of perfection and failing.

I am not a lean super model, nor am I at an unhealthy weight. I am an athletic build with a soft side.

I am not super mom charging through the supermarket grabbing only the healthiest and best priced organic goods, nor am I a walking tornado incapable of caring for myself and others. I am loving woman who keeps her home and work in a respectable order.

I am so much more content when I see myself exactly as I am without making unhealthy comparisons to others.

There is value in seeing things just as they are, and I don’t need to compare myself to others to know who I am.

I am thankful for honest mirrors in my life, but that doesn’t mean I’m quite ready to throw out my skinny bedroom mirror.