This Is Your Life. Get in the Picture.

I think it's amazing how when a person looks at photographs of herself (or himself) the first thing she sees is her flaws. Immediately, she looks for evidence of what's "wrong" with her, looks for the features she's studied in the mirror obsessively, unhappily.

No one does this but the subject of the photograph. Everyone else who looks at the photo zeroes in on what's "right"--on the features that make you fascinating--and often doesn't see anything else. So you obsess over a mole, while we're falling for your eyes. You analyze stray hairs, while we're in awe of the curve of your smile. You can't see anything but the ten pounds you gained at Christmas, and we see (and are so jealous of!) your perfect manicure.

And if you're someone we know and love? We see nothing but love for you. We look at you and don't even see you--we feel the beauty of all the memories we share with you. And so looking at you makes us happy beyond understanding.

I'm not exempt from this insecurity, of course, but I do have a way to overcome it. Know your strengths. Know how to play them up. Then look for your success in the photo. Have amazing eyes? Learn and wear the right makeup to show them off. Then make that the first thing you examine in the photo. Have a killer smile? Master the real-fake smile and look for that in the photo. Have the thick, luscious hair of a 16-year-old? Straighten it, curl it, do whatever makes you happiest with it! Then show it off!!

Celebrate your beauty because we are doing just that. Because God doesn't look at pictures of you and say, "Oh, look at the nose on that one!"