It’s a fact that we all look in the mirror at least once a day, right?

So what do YOU see? Some say “wrinkles’ – “ugly chin” – “crappy hair” … of course all those things tend to make those people feel uncertain or unhappy with themselves which can and often does lead into depression even if only mildly so or for a short period of time just not being happy with themselves.

But just looking at our faces is not really a ‘true reflection’ of who we are.

It’s a bit like our voices. Given our background in media and recording etc, both my wife Kaye and I know only too well how ‘shy’ or uncomfortable some people are about being recorded.

“Oooh I HATE the sound of my voice” is what they often say!
But as it happens, how you THINK you sound is actually not how you sound at all.

There are two reasons for this.
#1 is to do with how sound works in our heads. Try putting your hands around both ears and open just enough so you can hear yourself speaking. It’s quite different and sounds a lot more like others hear you!

#2 is to do with your ‘attitude’. If you are in a ‘grumpy’ mood, this will come across. If you are happy this will come across too. Bored maybe?... well, you get the picture!

So what has this got to do with ‘loving yourself’?
Well growing up, my family may have instilled the ‘happiness’ gene in me, I guess. And yes, I’ve been through a few things not so nice things in my life like all of us, but it was my late father-in-law Jack Browne who I asked at the ripe old age of 93+… “Jack, what makes you so happy at your age?” to which he replied… “I don’t worry!” … wow, words of wisdom eh?

So I started trying to think like that and you know what?... It really does seem to work.

More recently though I’ve started looking in the mirror EVERY morning and saying things like…
“WOW!... look at you cutie” (with a big smile!) and saying quietly things like… “I LOVE my life. I’m SOOO happy!”… and even if there is a bit of ‘s#it’ going on, it really does help to just keep that smile going and to just ‘be happy’.

As that Bobby McFerren song goes…
In every life we have some trouble,
But when you worry you make it double,
Don't worry be happy…. <-- Original YT video


Of course I have my own song I’ve sung for fun over the years…
I love myself I think I’m grand
I love to sit & hold my hand
But when I get fresh I slap my face
And think I am a big disgrace~!~!

But as it happens that little ditty came from this 1923 song:
"I Love Me (I'm Wild About Myself)" by Irving Kaufman 1923 <-- Original YT video

So… bottom line?.. Keep smiling ok? Every day is a new day 😊

© 2024 Brian Pickering