Why Tammy’s Mirror?

One of the most effective ways to destroy our motivation for taking positive action and changing our lives is negative self talk. We will often think, say, and believe things about ourselves that we would be appalled to hear someone say about another person, but for some reason, we feel that it is perfectly fine to do this to ourselves.

A mirror is a constant reminder of how we feel about the way we look, which in turn becomes negative self thoughts and before we know it, negative self talk. A mirror is something we use everyday, and if we don’t like what we see, the simple act of brushing our teeth can become destructive to our path to self confidence and life change. The picture above was taken on my wedding day, not my idea of fun; a mirror and a photo all rolled into one! This picture caused many tears to be shed on the return of our wedding photos, as did many others!

The definition of a mirror is said to be a reflective surface that reflects a clear image! When we’re fat, out of shape, unfit and feeling as though there is no way to fix these issues( or any physical image that holds us back), a mirror is anything but something that reflects a clear image. It becomes a medium for distorted, inaccurate and intensified images of what is seen, as well as what is not seen. It magnifies both the acceptable and unacceptable visual image reflected.

If we’re already in a place of self destructive behaviour and thoughts it is the perfect place for us to be reassured that everything negative we think about ourselves is true(or at least that’s what we perceive).

The ultimate place that mirror is evident is the gym wall. The gym (a place that we should use to boost our self image), the fact that we are there working out, becoming stronger and fitter should be something to be proud of, but not so much when on every turn, every weight repetition we are reminded of all things we hate about ourselves, believing that who we are is wrapped up in what we look like.

When we look in a mirror it is the physical image that is reflected back, so powerful is such a image that we forget who we are as people. I am a great mom, a loyal friend, a nurse that have saved lives, comforted during death and helped bring life in to the world, but all of that gets erased in front of the mirror!

I have never been more aware of this than I have in the last few months as I’ve started training more. My new love for kick boxing(with a few mma moves thrown in;-) places me in front of a mirror more than I like! I remember the first time my trainer(whom I NOW consider brilliant), placed me in front of a mirror to do something called shadow box! I seriously thought he had been hit in the head too many times that day!

His goal surely was to torture me, it must be, what other reason for this madness must he have? There is nothing that will force us to look ourselves straight in the eye and not turn away more than the process of shadow boxing in a mirror. It turns out his intention was to improve my technique, to teach me to be powerful and gain the ability to defend myself and my family, and if in the process i could recognize my strength and ability then bonus! His plan wasn’t to torture me after all! I’m pretty sure he could have been more creative if that was his real goal

I still spout phrases that would make most sailors blush when placed in front of a mirror for any reason, but I’m working on it!! My next biggest challenge is to over come that negative self talk that happens in front of that mirror, and to over come it’s ability to negate all the positive things i have and will do in my l

ife!