Breaking Up With My Skinny Mirror

“Mirror, mirror on the wall, who is the thinnest girl of all?”

The day I lost my skinny mirror, my life shattered.

Ok, maybe that’s a tad exaggerated, but STILL!

Once, my mirror reflected my lumps and bumps as straight lines and smooth surfaces.  I loved this mirror almost as much as I loved my shaper pantyhose.  During certain ghastly times when I was feeling bloated, I’d run upstairs and sneak a glance.  Even my fat outfits would look slim-lined in this mirror.

My family knew this was mommy’s mirror, a treasure to be guarded.  If ever there were a fire, someone else had better grab the scrapbooks, because one of my arms would carry a child and the other, my mirror.

Each day I would leave the house full of confidence and with an air of pride.  I was looking good, and I knew it.  My beloved mirror would never lie.

Until one day I offered to redesign my church’s boring nursery.  The toddler’s were screaming, because of the lack of color, texture, and toys.  With help from a friend, I hung orange and white checkered curtains, plastered bright and vibrant bugs all over the walls, decorated with puppets, and hung a mirror horizontally at a two year-old’s eye level.

Since I knew hanging anything with glass is tricky business, I recruited my husband to help.  His experience is vast, including chandeliers, outdoor lights, and my skinny mirror.  I never once considered that he could shatter the look of my hips with one swing of the hammer, but the unfortunate happened – the frame broke.  My husband looked to me and said, “Do you have another mirror?”

My head spun through the options…I could run to Wal-Mart, but I’m out of time and money…I could call everyone I know within a two-mile radius and see if they have a mirror…

“How about the mirror that is hanging in our bedroom?  We could trade it for this broken one.” My husband suggested, interrupting my thoughts.

I gasped.  My heart skipped a beat and my hand came automatically to my mouth.
“Not my skinny mirror.” I pleaded.

After my husband made me feel the guilt of breaking ten children’s hearts, I sacrificed my mirror on the altar of poopy diapers.  I am convinced not one of those two-year old’s appreciates seeing his thin face as much as I did seeing my thin hips.

I lost my skinny mirror and that is why I am on a diet.

That is why I am hungry.
That is why I am cranky.

Quick, somebody get me a new mirror!

Crazy as it sounds, this story is 100% true.  Instead of relying on a warped mirror, I so much rather work to be healthy and fit on the inside as well as on the outside.

Stay Fit on the Inside

• Read your Bible and Talk to God
• Be Thankful
• Eat Right
• Drink Water
• Guard your Mind

Say Fit on the Outside

• Exercise
• Sleep
• Remember to Breathe
• Relieve Stress
• Laugh
• Enjoy this Beautiful Life

Besides, I want to see myself for the woman God made me to be.  I am loved, a child of almighty God.  I am redeemed, a joint heir with Christ, a victor.  I can do all things because of the one who lives within me.

How about you?  
Are relying on a false image of yourself, or do you see yourself as God sees you?  
What are you doing to stay fit on both the inside and the outside?