What Do You See In The Mirror?

If you think about it, when we look in a mirror we see a reflection of ourselves, so do we actually ever see our true image, as others who look at us do?

It’s like when you walk into a room and you feel as though every person is staring at you, so naturally, your anxiety is through the roof. You might believe every person in the room is watching you, judging, as you become more and more uncomfortable. But in reality, when it’s you gazing across the room, do you actually ever judge or even notice every person that walks in?

When I look in the mirror I’m not sure what I really see. I can’t stare at my reflection for too long because I start to pick out all the bits that I don’t like and I have to step away before the negativity floods in. This is something that I am working on every day and trying to change. I have even started standing in front of a mirror and smiling every morning for a few minutes.

It might sound ridiculous, but give it a try!

I often laugh at how ridiculous I must look. As the weeks have gone on, I am starting to smile back at myself and really mean it. After all, how can we expect anyone else to love us if we don’t really love ourselves?

Why do so many of us avoid mirrors and photos? Why do we prefer a certain angle or a certain side for a photo to be taken on? Is it because society has created a demand for the perfect angle, the perfect selfie, or the perfect filter?

Why do we criticise and compare ourselves to other people? This is a habit I am trying to break myself, as I can’t help but judge my self-worth on other people’s appearance as they walk into a room or they pop up on my social media feed. I feel self-awareness is important because it instills uniqueness and prevents following the crowd and trying to blend in. I’ve often heard myself saying ‘how can someone lack so much self-awareness?’ but now I realize that I have expressed my opinion in the completely wrong context. Just because you believe someone may lack self-awareness does not mean that they do. Perhaps they are just so confident and content with themselves and their personality that they don’t care about other people’s opinions and don’t spend their life worrying what others might think. Perhaps then, it is those that we believe to lack self-awareness that has, in reality, concurred it, as they live their lives in complete contempt.

Perhaps it is also those that we feel stand out that can look confidently in the mirror each day, smiling back at their reflection, truly happy with their existence in the world and truly proud of who they are.

Amy Whittle

My name is Amy, I'm 22, and I’ve been living with an eating disorder on and off for 9 years. A few months ago I was finally honest about it with my loved ones. I am now on my challenging journey through recovery and have started an online blog to help aid me along the way and hopefully provide some positivity and motivation for others who are going through a similar thing.

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