The Man in the Mirror

Everyday most of us glance in the mirror. We check to see that our hair isn’t a frizzy mess; we make sure that there isn’t anything stuck in our teeth; and we judge our physical appearances. It’s human nature for us to compare ourselves to others. We find a freckle, a dimple, flabby triceps, and we obsess over these insignificant details which others somehow overlook.  In pictures of ourselves, that one blemish is all that we see. In videos of ourselves, that’s all we focus on. The thought becomes ingrained in our psyche that if this one problem were fixed, our lives would somehow be better. So, we go on extreme diets. We get plastic surgery. We apply creams and balms and strange gooey products.  Or, we simply live with this nagging negative self-image. No matter how many people tell us that they don’t even see our perceived “problem” with our appearance, we cannot let it go. We live in a world of comparisons: where the “ideal” body is plastered across every magazine page and tv show. They show women whose bodies are far below the healthy fat percentage and who have barely enough muscle to lift a spoon to their mouths. They show men whose muscles are so huge and inflexible they can’t bend over to pick something off the floor. And yet, this is somehow considered ideal. Products call to us from every infomercial and drug store shelf promising to make us taller, shorter, thinner, bulkier, bustier, younger-looking….. the list goes on. They all vow to make you something you are not, which can only lead to a lost sense of who you are. Comparing yourself with others wastes the unique individual that you have become. Why try to rid yourself of the things that make you, you? That dimple in your chin, that uniquely shaped nose, those tiny feet, that odd freckle: those are the things that represent you. Wear them with pride. So, the next time you look at the man in the mirror, smile at the beautiful, unique, amazing person that you are and revel in the fact that no one else in this world looks quite like you.