Do You Like What You See? | Poem

When you look at yourself in the mirror.

When you look at yourself in the mirror, do you like what you see?
Do you admire every bit of yourself?
Do you adore that beautiful body that shuttles your soul?

I was looking at myself in the mirror the other day; I was reminded of how I use to really dislike what I saw.

Mirror time, for me, used to be filled with hatred and remorse—I thought I was God’s unfortunate mistake.

I was miserably insecure and inescapably shy, mostly I was embarrassed of myself—and how I looked.

Struggling to keep my mind above water, self-criticism and despair were my defaults.

Spiralling thoughts, negative holes, and incessant tirades, is what kept me drowned in a tornado of relentless rants, of criticism and hate, against myself, despising who I was and how I looked.

Oh how brilliantly cruel my mind was to me back then.

But, then I thought, for a moment, look at me now— look at where I am today!

I look at myself in the mirror and I feel elated at what I see today.

I hope you don’t mind me sharing—and starring a little, I quite love myself a lot these days.

I smile at myself in the mirror. I check myself out for a minute or two.
Instead of horror, I might even feel like a little wink instead.

I know, it’s a little vain.
But I’ve endured enough pain and forsaken my gains, to deserve the right to be a little vain.

I used to need the validation from others to feel even remotely close to feeling this good.

I realise this is the only should, that’s worthy to be understood:

I am beautiful as I am, just the way I am.

What I didn’t know before, was how miserable I once was. How low my standards were. How terribly I treated me. I prefer to see myself free.

No one knew, what I heard. The voices in my head were all that I knew.

It’s why, today I can smile at myself a little more each day, to see myself free and kind to me is sublime.

Especially today, if I may say, I look at myself in the mirror and I find glory in myself today. Hooray!

It took some time, but I finally feel:
I am in flow.
I feel like I glow.

They say you reap what you sow.
I certainly feel, I am reaping the seeds that I’ve sown.

This is what neuroplasticity and a growth mindset can thrown.

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