Mirror Mirror On The Wall
Who’s the fairest of them all? A fairy tale presents the question . . . who has the answer?
Continuing to look in ‘the mirror of validation’ from others to answer the question keeps you spinning a web of pleasing others. Too many present themselves to the world wearing a mask that says ‘am I good enough?’ all the while longing for an acceptance of the real me. Why do so many struggle with feeling loved, valued or wanted?
A recent article in the Huffington Post caught my attention: 5 Science-Backed Reasons It’s Important To Love Yourself as it gave some interesting reasons to love yourself. Could it be that how you love yourself has a lot to do with how you love others and how others love you?
So what does it mean to love yourself?
It is natural within each of us to protect and care for our needs, and we do it without thinking. In loving self, we see that it comes effortlessly to eat, sleep, and stop the bleeding when we hurt ourselves. We care for our needs without even thinking. Is this a clue as to what it looks like to love others and care for them?
When you want what you want expecting others to make you feel good, look good or do things the way you want, loving self becomes distorted and destructive, acting more like lust than love. Loving others becomes a hunt for self-validation and the unhealthy pattern begins.
Would you consider the truth that God says you are the fairest of them all in His eyes? His word tells us to love others as you love yourself (Matthew 22:39). Understanding that God loves you exactly as you are may just be the key to feeling free to love others, accepting them exactly as they are.
Are you striving to become what others want you to be
so that you have the chance to be the ‘fairest of them’ all to someone?
