Do You See What I See?

When you look at yourself in the mirror, who do you see? How do you see yourself? Do you degrade yourself or pay attention to what you like best about you? I can't say this with 100% certainty, but I think it's safe to say that people use mirrors as a way to fix themselves. Some people need to fix their hair, some examine their outfits and fix it for the day, and others dissect their bodies and determine everything that needs to be fixed.

I know you look at yourself each day, but do you really know what you look like? Really, do you know? I used to know how I looked. I am notorious for looking in mirrors. How could I not identify what I look like? I spend ample time examining my own appearance.

Last week, I heard an impromptu speech about people looking at themselves. The person who spoke recently went on a trip overseas. In Tanzania, she took pictures of a few kids. At first, they were curious. Then, one kid walked over and looked at the picture on her camera. Before she knew it, 10 kids were surrounding her camera. They smiled, chucked, giggled, and laughed. For the first time, they saw what they looked like. It was a pure and precious moment.

Another example that comes to my mind is the Dove commercial I saw a while back. It was the commercial where the FBI gentleman drew the women based on the way they described themselves and then drew the woman based on someone else's description. The result was that other people think more positively about one's appearance than the person him or herself.

When you look at yourself, you may become your harshest critic. Stop being so hard on yourself. See yourself through someone else's eyes. It may be difficult at first, but if you look at yourself as if someone else is looking at you, then you may giggle and smile, just like the kids in Tanzania.