Dooley Noted: 2/5/2014
Years ago, I used to stand in the mirror, picking myself apart.
I wanted to chop, lift, smooth, alter, and morph my body. My nose was too big. My thighs were too large. I had too many freckles.
That made me self-conscious, self-deprecating, and pretty down about myself. And this went on every time I passed a mirror for YEARS.
Then, my niece told me I was the most beautiful person she knows.
She looked up to me. She wanted to be like me. She was watching and listening.
I thought, “Am I representing the kind of person she aspires to be?”
So, I flipped my script.
I started looking in the mirror and seeing what she sees.
I started seeing all the things I loved -like the robust squatting thighs that no diet could touch.
The big nose became a wide-open airway, suitable for breathing and living.
The freckles became the spots of a leopard.
What I used to want to change became the beauty that made me smile in the mirror.
All that needed to change was my perspective.
I had spent so much time focusing on what I wanted to trim away instead of filling the body I was in!
Now, I feel and fill every curve, every freckle, every supposed flaw. They all feel like attributes, since they make up this woman I’m evolving to become.
As for you, your perception of everyone -including yourself -is, as always, your call.
– Dr. Kathy Dooley