A Look in the Mirror

I’ve often heard it said that ‘Happy girls are the prettiest’. I honestly cannot tell you how many times I have heard and seen those words; and every time that I do, I’m taken back to my childhood. I’m taken back to the mirror in our bathroom, and my sour reflection staring back at me from the glass.

When I was a kid, I had a serious attitude problem. (Who would have thought, right!?) Whenever I was in a bad mood, and looking absolutely misshapen, my mother - God bless her - would send me straight into our bathroom to look at my face in the mirror. She would immediately point out how grumpy I looked, and ask me, ‘Do you see how ugly that is?’ I did, EVERY time. Shortly after staring at my horrible reflection, (and sometimes not so shortly after) Mama would tell me to smile, and we would stand in front of that mirror until I did. Each and every time, my face would instantly lift, and my mother would tell me how 'pretty' that looked in comparison to the sour pucker that had previously camped out on my face.

When I was a kid, I had a lot of days that I needed to look in the mirror and let that forced smile overtake me. Almost instantaneously over the years, that fake smile became genuine and would always brighten my mood. To this day, when I am in a bad mood and feeling absolutely wretched, I look in the mirror and remember my mom’s words: ‘Do you see how ugly that is?’ I always do, and I ALWAYS smile.

See, our attitude is a choice. We have a choice every day to let external circumstances define who we are for the day, or to look in the mirror and put a smile on our face. I personally would like for people to look at me and be in a better mood, just because I chose to smile. A smile can go a long way, folks. Even when we don’t feel happy; if we can smile anyway, genuine happiness almost always finds us.

Now I’m not saying I’m perfect or that rainbows and butterflies radiate from my being; I’ll be the first to tell you that I can be pretty foul some days, but even still, my attitude is my choice. Even when I don’t feel like it, I’m going to choose to smile; because happy girls really are the prettiest - both inside and out.

-Kelsey