Acknowledging Our Truths

“You look so happy in your pictures.”

Three different people told me this within the past week, in three separate occasions, referring to recent photos I had taken.

I hate taking pictures- I always tell people my face has an allergic reaction to the camera, resulting in strange, pained facial expressions I cannot explain. That coupled with psoriasis that flares up at the most inconvenient of times, it’s a recipe for photographic disaster. Usually my Internal Compliment Deflector 3000™ does a great job of circumventing and disposing any compliments before they are able to land. That’s why it’s even more strange that I noticed this pattern.

And then it hit me. I’m out numbered. 3 to 1. There must be something here that I’m not seeing. So I looked at the photos again and had a hard time not feeling the joy that channeled out through these photos.

So what’s the take away? Why am I talking about this?

I was always taught that I know myself best- but that clearly isn’t the case here. What if sometimes other people can see truths about us that we fail to acknowledge. Truths we can’t see due to whatever distorted filter or lens we are using to look at ourselves. Therapy can help us to see ourselves more objectively.

We don’t keep old glasses once our prescription has changed, so why should I?