"Dang," said the boy, looking into the side mirror on the way home from school. "I have the most awesome hair color."
The mom nodded.
The boy kept looking at his reflection.
"When the light gleams on it, my goodness. I just look good."
"Your hair is nice."
"And my dimples. My cheeks look just like...what's the food Dad likes to eat? You know, in the back yard?"
"Muscadines?"
"No, on that tree thing."
"On a tree? Hmm. Figs?"
Yeah, my cheeks are just like figs."
The mom smiled at her boy and tried to act normal.
But the truth was that he had blown her away!
I don't know about you, but in my forty some years, I've hardly ever say things like that.
I can make you a list a mile long about things I wish were different about my appearance--
I wish my lips didn't disappear when I smile.
I wish my eyes weren't so round.
I wish I would lose ten pounds.
Et cetera. Et cetera.
I rarely smile in the mirror and say, "Dang! I look good!"
But why not?
My friend Alison wrote a post recently about how she always looks back at old photos she once hated, and thinks, "Wow, what was I complaining about?"
I do the same thing!
Why can't we do a better job seeing the beauty that's right there NOW?
So today, I'm doing a daring thing. And I'm daring you to do the same.
Tell me what you like when you look in the mirror. Just one little thing. I know you can do it!
I know in my head, at least, if not in my heart, I'm a beautiful creature of God. Let's find it. Celebrate it!
I'll hold my breath and start us out. Ready?
I like my dimples, even though as a child I used to blow up my cheeks like a pufferfish to make them go away. I like them now. Dang, they look good!
Okay. Now it's your turn!
Have a wonder-full Wednesday, y'all!
Love, Becky
Photo by quinn.anya, creative commons
16 comments:
At 53 my hair has turned silver with streaks of dark brown. Recently I did some "low-lights" reduced the silver without taking away all of the gray. I like how it turned out...did it myself. My hair has always been one of my nicest features. Generally when I look in the mirror I am satisfied. Not a great beauty but I'm pretty, enough.
Great post Becky...I see again and again why Jesus said, "Unless you become like one of these little ones, you will not see the kingdom of heaven..." There are LOTS of things we don't see unless we become like a child, right?
I LOVE my eyes. They're green. Which makes me a little different than your standard blue or brown eyed fare. I've always loved my green eyes, and fortunately, my oldest son and now grandson shares the same green. And they WORK. Mostly. With a little help from trifocals. So yes. Green eyes. DANG! I look good! lol What a great line!
Hugs,
Paula Clare
Haha! I love this. Kids are so awesome at loving themselves. When do we stop doing that? So sad.
Overall, I think I look okay when I look in the mirror, but my individual features are not great. But, that is not what you asked us to do, right?
Fine.
Ummm...
I have pretty eyes. They are big and change color depending on my mood and what I'm wearing. My eyes ROCK! WOOHOO!
That was painful. I guess I need practice. ;)
What a great post. I knew a little girl that used to sing "I'm so great" and do a little dance. Even though, I was often told "pretty is as pretty does", I have always been happy with my hair. I have great hair and I have a blast with it. Being an artist, I have used my hair as my palette, and now that I decided to forgo color, I still love to play with it and probably still spend too much time in front of a mirror. That's ok, I think God wants His children to acknowledge that we are some of His greatest work.
I agree--daily affirmation about SOME part of ourselves is such a HUGE thing. I love my nose, my shoulders, my eyes and my mouth. This balances out a few bits that aren't quite what I'd wish for;)
I just happen to love your dimples, too :).
And I like my smile -- there now because of you. Thanks for the affirmation. ♥
I used to like my salt and pepper hair. Now that it has so much salt I'm not so sure...
Love, Mama J.
I love being a redhead! (Took me a little while to get to that place...) It's fading a bit, but still red. And I love it.
Becky! this is tough...and you are right about your and your boy's dimples...cute, cute, cute. for me I would say...hmmm....I do have nice dark brown almond eyes. I used to put myself down quite badly as a teen and in college. Then, of course with the Lord's love, I came to say to myself in the mirror...wow, God loves you inside and out so much...and I had the 1Samuel verse on my mirror"Man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart" to stop my negative thinking..now I have to say the Lupus I have has affected my skin and aged me more quickly than my 37 years and I constantly have to look at myself and my physical changes and take a breath and know how well I am loved for everything by my God, my dear hubby and kids. Yeah, this is tough.
You do have adorable dimples! I like my eyes when I smile--I used to hate that they crinkled up and seemed to disappear, but now I love the fact that they are a reflection of my smile--the crinkles (now wrinkles!) show that I really smile!
Such a positive post, Becky, and a wonderful one. There's something positive in all of us and we should recognize those positives and be grateful for them, as they are truly blessings from our Creator.
I've been thinking about this a lot lately too, Becky -- the result of a conversation I just had with my hairdress about going grey. I am thinking about writing about it on the blog, too. And then I saw Emily in the Hush of the Moon is writing about something similar today, too -- we are all on the same page!
BTW, I love your dimples!
Becky, this post made me laugh out loud! It's so true---we don't see the beauty we "had". I always thought I had "horse" ears, my teeth were too big, etc, etc----now I'm happy I can still hear with those big ears, and I'm glad I still have teeth!
Great job
Hugs to you
Katt
I do that same thing when I look at older photos - wonder what I was complaining about.
I like my eyes and my smile. My feet are nice, too - good thing in flip flop territory!
Great post Becky !!
i think you're lovely! and your smile has invited me to your site from the beginning!
for me?
my smile! i should use it more :)
thx!
isn't that the permission we need?
well done my friend !
Hahaha! I LOVE your dimples, Becky. Here's a good one: when I was a child I used to walk around poking my index fingers in my cheeks to get dimples.
About me? I like my smile. It is open and friendly, and, hopefully, kind.
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