mirror, mirror on the wall ... is it good news?
/A self-talk recommendation on my daily affirmation calendar was this: Every time I pass a mirror I say, “Hi Honey” and wave.
You can imagine what the scene has been like at my house since reading that, with Ray thinking I’m cozying up to him when I’m really sugar-coating myself, and with him being slightly curious if I need professional help.
My house, like yours perhaps, is filled with mirrors room-to-room, even floor-to-ceiling, lying in wait behind doors, bursting with light at the bottom of stairs, so I can routinely, okay obsessively, check how bad things are. Then I attempt any necessary repairs which are always far short of the goal and often make me leave the scene of the affront with a sigh not a wink and a wave.
All that has been changing though because my positivity calendar has been guiding my attitudes and behaviors for many a long 2021 day. Without the daily reminder to be upbeat to myself and a bit fawning to others, of envisioning a life more peaceful, empowered, and why not utopian -- who knows how this dreary year would have transpired, and who knows how often the word shouted at that fickle mirror, mirror on the wall would have been witch, witch, witch.
Yet with the summer upon us and more of us baring nearly all at the beach -- the wrinkles, the pouches, the cellulite -- I’m reminded a little honey could go a long way toward making this summer a little more sweet. I mean, what can you do about the fact your arms, despite your best fitness efforts, and your belly, despite living on sugar-free this and fat-free that, continue to fight you, and what can you do about the fact you were born who you are, which you’re still working to accept, affirmation by affirmation, like this recent one: My life gets more fabulous every day. I look forward to what each new hour brings.
Says who?
Apparently, for that day at least, says me.
Yet the new mirror strategy has me totally besotted. What a great idea, I shout, as I pass the reflecting glass and realize how often this is the moment I ruin an otherwise good day by sabotaging myself with ridicule. “Oh yeah, you looked like you slept on a bus, or “Oh yeah, better grab that hat and sunglasses before anyone recognizes you.”
So much nicer, I must admit, and so much more summertime gracious to give a nod, a thumbs up, a “Hi Honey,” and a fluttery wave each time the mirror hits me smack in the marionette lines.
Wink, wink, wink.
An old friend once said the trick to having a good day is to take the last look in the morning into a mirror that does you justice. The one with the best lighting, perhaps with some forgiving candlelight nearby, and the one that makes you feel -- even for you-- somehow young and gorgeous. I am good to go!
Even if the next mirror would have shown the bags under the eyes, the dark veins, the skirt bulging on one inconvenient side of the hips.
I don’t know honey, but I can tell you this. Right now, the mirrors in my house are laughing not at me, but with me. Because you know what they say -- it’s all about your attitude. For example, this affirmation from the calendar: I only accept beliefs that totally support me.
Why not?
Come on honey, it’s the summer. Even the wicked queen who talked to the mirror, mirror on the wall got some good ratings before Snow White moved in, even if the queen did die at the end. Never mind about that!
Wink, wink, honey. Let’s be good to go. Here’s waving right back at you.