The Girl In the Mirror (Or "That Blog Post About Self-Esteem")

Let us be grateful to the mirror for revealing to us our appearance only.

- Samuel Butler

I really love that quote. I am seriously contemplating writing it down and posting it on my mirror so that I can look at it daily. Why is that quote so important (especially to me, as a woman)? I think that it is a necessary reminder that who you are is not dictated by what you look like - for better or for worse.

I've met quite a few beautiful people in my time. (Listen to me, I sound like I'm a grandmother...) I've also met people who - by worldly standards - are nothing special. They're cute, perhaps, but not stunning or gorgeous. (I, myself, tend to fall into this category). And being someone who is average in appearance isn't a bad thing - the majority of the women in this country do not possess supermodel bodies or anything like that. Most of us live our lives out daily, having good days (where we look at the woman in the mirror and smile with satisfaction) and bad days (where we don't even want to look at ourselves out of fear or discontent).

But isn't it a comfort - no, a sheer joy - to know that what we look like is not who we are? Could you imagine what the world would be like if that were true? Picture, for a moment, that your personality, your heart, your compassion, and all of the things we constitute as "inner-beauty" were to manifest themselves on your exterior body. What would you look like? What would the most physically beautiful person be like? It is an interesting thought.

I teach 8th grade girls on Sunday mornings. I've taught them since they were in 6th grade and now they are getting ready to go into high school. In my opinion, the worst is almost over. Middle school was the most awkward and awful three years of my life. And I know it was this way for a lot of women out there (and possibly men too), mainly because there was such an extreme emphasis placed on "fitting in" and "being cool" (what does that even mean?) Middle school was the breeding ground for insecurities - I fell prey to a lot of these and trust me when I say that I am not an expert or master of self-esteem. I still have days where I just look at myself in the mirror and shake my head. And I think that a part of growing up is recognizing that quote above - who you are in the mirror is not who you truly are. It may seem like it. It may seem like the only thing people care about is personal appearances and clothes and make-up. (And really, a lot of our society is programmed in that way).

But take heart, friends. What you look like in the mirror is not really who you are on the inside. When people look back on your life, they will not remember the bad hair day you had last week, or the fact that you wore an outdated skirt to the Christmas party. They'll remember how you offered them a ride home when their car broke down, or how you helped them move into their new apartment.

At the end of the day, the mirror is just a shadow of who you are - not a reflection.