Mirror, mirror..

Yesterday my gorgeous daughter and I took a trip to the hair dressers. Having had her cut and blow dry, she paraded around the salon glancing in every mirror, admiring herself. The stylist and I giggled at her innocent vanity, but it got me thinking, was this wrong?

Shouldn't we all believe we are beautiful in one form or another? As we grow up we get knocked along the way. As children some us were bullied at school, then there were the teenage taunts, not helped by the awkwardness fuelled by our hormones. So is it any wonder that as we launch into adulthood and begin to settle into serious relationships, our self esteem is, well, pretty buggered.

Most of us reach out for something to numb the pain. Drink, drugs, hopeless relationships, eating disorders - and the list goes on.

Having suffered from bulimia, which has nothing to do with vanity by the way, I know what it feels like to simply want to disappear. There was an overwhelming feeling that I was "in the way". Led by the feeling that I was irritating and upsetting people. Hopefully, the worst is behind me now, but it sits like a gremlin on my shoulders every day.

Nobody is perfect, including the bullies, but when one tries to give love and it is simply taken, then thrown away or you get a kick in the teeth for your trouble, your confidence evaporates and we reach for the nearest branch.

We have to stop screaming inside, and start searching inside instead. You have good qualities, talents and a uniqueness that is special and amazing. There is also an inner strength in there too, and once you have found it, it will help you to change your life forever.

My job now, is to bring up my children to believe they are beautiful on the inside and the out. If my daughter sees a beautiful person in the mirror, then she is damn right and there is no way I am taking that away from her. As for me? Well, I will keep working on myself and doing my affirmations, and making sure that I don't spend time with people who want to take away my strength.

So, go and look in the mirror now and every day, tell yourself you are a beautiful person both inside and out, until you believe it. Because you are!!