Thursday, March 7, 2019

My Reflection


I look up into the mirror as I splash water on my face, dry it, then apply lotion.  My eyes can’t help but be drawn to the lines on my face.  I swear they weren’t there yesterday.  My mind wanders to the me of “yesterday”, and I begin to wonder if I would trade places with her.  She had no lines on her face, her body was young, in shape, and virtually pain free.  Would I go back to being her?

I snap back to reality with a “Mommy??” from the room across the hall.  A perfectly imperfect human is calling to me because he wants “one more hug and kiss.”  Okay, kid. 

Back in my bed, with my husband out of town, I allow my mind to drift back to my twenties (have I really been alive long enough to have been an adult 20 years ago?)  She was a different person.  She was so beautiful, and she did not know it.  She was so smart, but she dumbed herself down to make others more comfortable.  She didn’t realize she deserved to dream, or that she could achieve them when she finally allowed it.

As I lie there thinking, I realized that I would not change places with myself two decades ago.  I love her.  I am so grateful to her for all she endured, but I don't want to go back to being her.  Today, I am a woman who wakes up appreciating the people and things in my life.  I am a woman who loves fiercely.  I am a flawed woman who wishes every day that she could do better.  I am a woman who is rearing two small humans.  I am a woman who overcame challenges I would never wish on anyone, yet I am also a woman who is privileged enough to not understand true challenge and hardship.   Most of all I am a woman who is finally comfortable in her own skin.

I have learned to love myself and put on my oxygen mask before others’.  I have learned to let the small shit go.  I have learned to love and value my parents; turns out they know a few things.  I have discovered that I am in a life partnership which really works.  I love (and like) my husband more than I ever thought possible.  I understand that a partnership like this  takes work; and we won’t always like each other.  Most importantly, I have learned that it is really important to look up in that mirror and tell the mean girl inside me to fuck off.  I have learned that I cannot truly love any other person unless I love myself (so corny – I KNOW!)

As I lie there thinking, all I could feel was happiness.  Today – I am happy.  Today – I have love.  Today – all of my needs are met.  Today – I would not trade for any other.  I realize that each day is fleeting and tomorrow brings a new reality.  But today I choose to live in gratitude; and I hope that I am able to wake in twenty more years to splash water on my face, see even more lines, and appreciate the laughter and tears that caused them.