If you've been to this blog before, you might notice I changed my picture in the right column. The previous picture was of me without my glasses. A couple of years ago I began wearing my glasses full-time. When my 11 year old daughter saw my former picture she'd tell me I needed to change it. I don't look like Mom to her now without my glasses on.
It got me thinking: what do we really look like?
To others?
To ourselves?
Changing my picture was a harmless change, even a good one.
Not all changes we make on ourselves are though.
A thought came to mind this morning -- I've never really seen myself. Either have you (seen yourself).
We see our reflections in mirrors and we see our images in photographs, but we've never and will never look at ourselves in the eyes as others do.
Never.
We can never see ourselves as others see us. We also can't see ourselves from the back; and depending on how flexible we are, we might not be able to see the bottoms of our feet either.
Does it matter?
Do others see things we can't when we look in the mirror?
I've thought about this before. I've thought about this when looking in the mirror with another person. I've looked at the other person's reflection and then glanced at them to see if I could see anything different. Honestly, in that moment, it looked the same except in reverse.
My middle daughter is presently quite concerned about what the other kids think about her at school.
I want her to take a walker to school on icy days to help her walk. She can walk but she is a bit wobbly. And her bones are fragile.
(A couple years ago she fractured her thigh bone unbeknownst to me or her. She fell but I caught her. She didn't even hit her knee against the pavement -- I felt like a real heel when we found out later it had been broken).
She refuses to take the walker though because she doesn't want the kids to make fun of her. I tell her that most of them won't. Our little grade school is full of very sweet kids. There are a few who aren't, but that's typical. She is so concerned with what others think about her when they look at her that she will risk her own health.
Do we do this?
Do we ever change our behavior or speech because of who is with us?
Probably.
Sometimes it doesn't matter.
Other times it really does.
If we don't stay true to who we are and who Christ Jesus is to us, it could damage us and the ones we are with.
We can't control how others view us. We can't determine what they believe about us. One of the most freeing things I've read in the last two years was said by Ashley Judd in an interview. She said it isn't her business what others think of her.
What a great thought, so very true. I've claimed that same viewpoint ever since I read it. It sure helps keep you focused on what matters.