I woke up this morning in the dorm I am currently staying in until I leave for my country, and normally in my bedroom back home I do not have any mirrors in my bedroom because they have always made me feel a bit uncomfortable. Now still half asleep at about 5:40 a.m. I noticed the giant long mirror on the back of my dorm room door. I couldn’t help but notice how tired I looked and automatically began to pick out certain imperfections about myself that I saw while looking in the mirror. At the moment I did not realize what I was doing to myself.
As my group and I began to walk towards the classroom we were going to be gathering in, I was admiring the beautiful Stanford campus with the gorgeous tall trees and vibrant green grass that covers the campus. Coming from Arizona this is very rare to see, so being surrounded by all this green scenery was refreshing. I noticed a particular tree as I was walking that was not as tall or green as the others, but still stood so tall and proud around the other trees. I was admiring this tree and how beautiful it still was although it was not as beautiful as the other trees. Now admiring all the imperfections in this tree may sound strange, but if I had not noticed this, I would not have noticed how easy it was for me to admire other imperfections in objets or sceneries and not in my own. Now I am not comparing myself to a tree at all, but it was interesting how from the very second I woke up and saw my self I began to dislike my imperfections, while admiring nature and even other people I admire the imperfections they embody.
Noticing this I began to really contemplate how I viewed myself, because if I do not see myself in a positive light then how do I expect others and my community to see me in that way as well? I want this cycle to end and I want to be able to love and admire the imperfections I embody. I know this is something that many of us do, either consciously or unconsciously, and I really want you to be aware of how you view yourself because in life we become comfortable with routine and what is normal for us but I believe that how we view ourselves and our imperfections could change the way we also interact and talk to others around us. Having a healthy relationship with ourselves, leads to healthy relationships with others as well.
Do not be ashamed of your imperfections and do not think that you are less than amazing and perfect even with imperfections. We have all had different roads of life that has brought us to this moment, and has made the person we are today, so how are we not perfect? If anything we are pretty amazing for getting this far in life still being absolutely amazing in every way. Too often we do not take time to reflect on how we view ourselves, yet we spend more time observing others and perhaps admiring certain characteristics about others and not ourselves.
Today is the day to say that you are enough and that you are indeed perfectly imperfect. If you do not love yourself unconditonally then who will? If you do not break that cycle today, when will you? You are amazing and never forget that!
