Liking who you are

What do you see when you look in the mirror? Do you like what stares back at you or are you disappointed by it? Those are questions we can all ponder.

As a child, I remember a favorite declaration of my mother. Mom, as I've stated in former writings, was a simple farm lady who was the very essence of common sense and wisdom. I called her a lady, rather than woman, because she was a lady in the finest sense of the word -- a person of wonderful ethics and loving kindness. Her statement that still stands tall in my memory is. "I like myself." She said this with sincerity and meaning, although she may have seemed as if she were joking.

The point she was making was that, although she lacked advanced education, abundant material possessions and other worldly badges of honor, she prided herself on being what she was. Whether Mom was entertaining guests or family, she put on no airs. She did not hide her background or her station in life. She liked being who she was and what she was.

Mom was Christian and showed her belief in God, particularly through her actions and kindness. Consequently, she liked what she saw when she looked at her reflection. Mom saw a person of whom she could be proud. She pursued what she thought was important and had a good time while living it. She tried to live the good life, which meant doing the right thing.

What do we need to see when we look within out outer layer? What is reflected back to us is not only psychical looks, but we usually see what's going on inside us. We see our inner core.

I once visited a medical doctor who told me he tried his best to help his patients and to charge a fair amount. As I complimented his attitude, he clarified his position. He said, "I have to see myself every morning when I shave. I like to be proud of what I see and recognize what good I have done. If I cheated someone or failed to do my best, I would not like the image in front of me." I was taken back at his explanation, but I felt encouraged at the evidence of his great ethics.

Many are ashamed of their heritage, their social position, and the lack of other things that they feel are missing in their lives. Rather than being proud of ourselves and thankful for what we are, we try to hide behind a curtain of false pretenses and insincerity.

Many retreat from pursuing their dreams and answering their callings and believe they aren't as good as those around them. Often many, even take our own lives because life seems useless. All these things are by-products of failing to like what we are. When talking about, liking and loving, I am not referring to haughtiness and conceit. Thinking we are better than others is loving ourselves selfishly, and brings only unhappiness and insecurity.

There is a reason, we are what and who we are. If it's our habits and our deeds that have discouraged us, we can try to change and create that which we can admire. If it's our background and heritage, of which we're embarrassed, we don't need to let that destroy us. If we become the way we want others to perceive us, we will be accepted. We attract that which we are.

We are made in the image if God. That knowledge, alone, is enough validation for us to love and accept without question ourselves and like what we see in the mirror. Psalm 139:13-14 can lift our lack of confidence in who and what we are when it says "For you created my inmost being, you knit me together in my mother's womb. I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made, your works are wonderful, and I know that full well."

Let us all be able to say, "I like myself" and mean it.