When you wake up and look in the mirror, do you smile at yourself?
Do you inhale confidence and exhale beauty?
Or, do you sigh, and look at the monotonous life around you and allow it to influence how you look at yourself?
Mirrors are tricky. Not only do they reflect the things standing before them, but they do so while constructing false realities—not necessarily good ones.
That said, what if we chose to speak differently and think differently? What if our expectations circled on something different, other than imperfections we wish were nonexistent? Here are six things that we should notice when looking in mirrors if we want to have a better day.
What You Should Notice About Your Reflection
1. Your eyes.
Before looking into the mirror, close your eyes. And as you open them, look directly into them. Do not waver. Do look at your hopes and dreams and passions.
Think about what matters to you in this day, in this moment. Think about the things you love. And try to see all of the emotion and compassion that sums up your inner beauty come to the surface. Give yourself a chance to see your own humanity before looking anywhere else.
Related: 5 Facts About Eye Health That You Need To Know
2. Your breathing.
Let your eyes then drift—see the rise and fall of your eyes and shoulders as you slowly breathe in and out. Look at the tangible signs of your existence. Breathe in hope and optimism, and exhale them in your own image, for all to see.
Allow yourself to find peace in knowing and seeing that you are alive, and allow yourself opportunity to enjoy this fact.
2. Your heart.
Look to your chest and put a hand over your heart. Feel the constant beating. As long as blood is flowing through your veins and air is in your lungs, you can be and do whatever you please.
Imagine what you would like your life to be like, and feel that flowing through your body before you go out and work to achieve it. As long as there is a beating heart within you, keep dreams and keep these dreams close to that heart.
3. Your hair.
Take your hand and bring it up towards your head, run it through your hair, and marvel at how your body continually grows and reproduces itself. Your body, no matter how it looks, what color, or what anything, is a near indestructible vessel for your hopes and dreams and things you love.
What is beautiful is what your body holds, but never forget that your body continually produces opportunities for you to grow and change and progress through this life.
Related: 6 Ways To Have Body Confidence
4. Your feet.
Look downwards towards your feet. Normally escaping your gaze in mirrors, they stand rooted to the ground they brought you to. You are capable of going anywhere in this world you want. Your feet are symbolic of such a fact.
Appreciate their stability, strength, and message of hope. Take a moment to build faith that they will carry you without fail and without complaint.
5. Your smile.
Returning to your face, the last thing to look at should be your smile. While looking in a mirror, your smile dictates how you will leave that mirror. Smiling to yourself allows you the opportunity to affirm the beautiful parts of yourself that no one else sees as often as you do—the ones you just spent time focusing on.
The Takeaway
It is easy to blame mirrors for what we see, but truthfully, mirrors are unbiased. It is humans that carry the bias. With varying levels of negativity and defeat, humans often approach mirrors with hopes to see something different from what they know is there, but lose this when opening their eyes in front of one. Love your reflection, because you are amazing.
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Conn is a recent graduate from Amherst College with a degree in Law, Jurisprudence, And Social Thought. While his background in writing is focused on research, philosophy and sociology, writing about people and how people interact with themselves and each other has always been of strong interest to him. Currently, he lives and works in New Haven, CT as a legal assistant and swim coach.