The Day My Bathroom Mirror Told A Different Story

I look down at my hands splayed on the blue granite of the bathroom counter. This is the part of the day I hate the most. I don’t want to face my reflection in the mirror. I know what I look like. I have memorized the fine lines and wrinkles that are starting to show my age. I can tell you the number of freckles that grace my face and due to years of fun in the summer sun. I hate the way I look.

I do everything else to get myself ready for the day before I face the inevitable. I brush my teeth, brush the tangles out of my hair, lotion up my arms and legs, and even manage to dress without catching a glimpse of myself reflected back in my nemesis that is the mirror.

The Day My Bathroom Mirror Told A Different Story

I’ve delayed the inescapable as long as humanly possible. I slowly look up, knowing what is waiting for me in the piece of reflective glass. I know I’ll see the same self-loathing image that has stared back at me my entire life.

I lock eyes with myself. Something is different today. It is still the same me, but it’s as if the reflection is talking to my inner soul. I can almost hear the me in the mirror talking to the me on the outside looking in. Here is what my reflection says:

“You are worthy. You are the only you there is, and the world is lucky to have you. See those lines by your eyes? They show the laughter of a life well lived. They show time spent with friends and family joking, loving, laughing, and living.

You are special. There is nobody on this earth who looks exactly like you, and that’s a good thing! Your lines, and what you perceive as flaws, tell the tale of your life, of who you are. It wouldn’t be your story to tell if there were any other reflection staring back at you.

You are loved. People look at the person staring back at you, and you know what they see? YOU. You are mommy, daughter, wife, friend, lover, and, simply, YOU. They love you just as you are. There isn’t another version of you that they expect or truly want to see. Isn’t it time you start to love yourself too?

You are you! The person looking back at you in the mirror has lived a life that only YOU can say you have lived. Your choices, good or bad, your childhood, your school years, your experiences, they are all written on the face of the person looking at you. And, you know what? That person is beautiful!

Look again, more closely. You’ll see a person who has a story to tell. You’ll see a person who is alive and surviving. You’ll see a warrior who stands up to her battles, and meets them head-on. Look again at YOU.”

I stare at my reflection in the mirror. I’m right. I am my own person, who has lived my own life, who has my own story to tell. I am unique, and maybe just a little quirky. You know what? That is okay with me.

I lift my head a little higher, and straighten my shoulders. I am going to meet this day head-on like the persevering warrior that I am! I am not a mouse who needs to hide and be ashamed of how I look. I need to be a roaring lion, who loves herself, flaws and all. I need see me for what I am, a beautiful human being.