Sunday, March 8, 2009

Finding Beauty in that Stranger in the Mirror

Sadly, many women battle with their self-esteem every day.  I'm not pretty enough, why is my nose so big, when did I start getting wrinkles, when did my body begin to look like this, and the list goes on and on.  Mirrors have become our enemies, magnifying our greatest flaws and obscuring our prettiest features.  

I recently came across this Oprah.com article and something just clicked.  When I look at my friends and family, all I see is beauty. The reason is because they are beautiful people.  They are kind, loving, caring, giving people and that's what I see when I look at them.  When I look in the mirror, however, I fail to see what I see in those who surround me. I think this excerpt from the article captures it best.

"When my own daughter was small, she adored her grandmother Rose.  Though Rose was wrinkled, white haired and stoop shouldered, my daughter saw her as physically beautiful.  Rose's white hair was luminous to her, like the fine-spun angel's hair that goes on a Christmas tree, and her wrinkles were what made her cheeks as soft as the velvety petals of a flower.  Once, while sitting in my lap, my daughter stroked my cheek and said, 'You're pretty, but you don't have enough wrinkles.'"

Maybe the next time we look in the mirror, we can start to see some of what others see in us.  Maybe we can get past those flaws and start to see the beauty in our own reflection.  Daughter.

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