Love Your Reflection

Life can throw us so many loops in one day, that over a period of time, it’s adds up to our reflection. What is your reflection?

When you look in the mirror, do you see all the joys and accomplishments throughout your life? Or are you stuck in the negative and can vaguely recall any good?

You have heard of the Golden Rule, “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.” Which is usually followed up by, “Love your neighbor as you love yourself.” Think about this…how can you love your neighbor as you love yourself if you don’t LOVE yourself? That’s where most of us go wrong.

We think love is not really a big deal, yet it is. In fact, the word is tossed around daily in social media, on texts, in letters, and even as you hurry out the door wishing your sweetheart a goodbye. The perception of love varies from person to person, situation to situation.

So if you don’t have a definition or an idea of what love is, how can you love your reflection?

First, let’s look at what you see when you look in the mirror? What do you hear yourself saying?

My eye and hair color are vibrant. Love them.  My smile sparkles with engagement. My arms are strong and can carry lots of weight for the family. My legs are amazing. And let’s not forget my tummy! Oh, it’s yummy.

Or are you trapped with the following thoughts.

If only my eyes were bigger and didn’t have so many crows feet. I need to seriously consider botox.  My teeth are not straight or pretty. I should get some braces. OMG! My body needs so much help. This pooch won’t go away. My thighs are so thick. And I can’t even think about swimsuit season.

No matter what you see in the mirror, you are beautiful! If you don’t see the beauty, then you can’t love someone else. And believe or not, that affects your relationships in life. Your marriage. Your friendships. Who you are from the inside out. If your heart isn’t connected to the reflection, you are hurting not only others, but yourself.

There becomes a constant struggle of always wanting to be better, never satisfied with who you are now.

I hit that struggle really hard. You could say the bus hit me! I thought I was doing everything “perfect”; taking care of the children, supporting my husband in his career, and maintaining the home. But no way!! It had nothing to do with everything I was “doing”, it was what I was feeling when looking in the mirror that had greatest impact on who I was and my worth in life.

It wasn’t until I begin to fall in love with me that I was able to share a deeper love with my children and my husband. It became an unconditional love. No matter what happened in life, the love was greater than the situation.

Being able to truly love yourself, allows you to be vulnerable to what is occurring around you. This gives way to your authentic self encompassed with confidence and a vigor for living. The benefits of loving your reflection create impact in other’s lives.

Love your neighbor as you love yourself. This is more than possible now. You love you!

Now that doesn’t mean life stops here. You may be wanting more in life; wanting to lose weight, change careers, stay at home with your children, build your dream business. All of this can only be accomplished by starting where you are now, loving who you are and enjoying the journey in your life’s transformation.

Take time today and look in the mirror. Who do you see? A beautiful person on a mission to create impact in this world starting with YOU! Love your reflection.