Today, one of my friends messaged me needing help and encouragement after a run-in with a nasty, lying mirror. You know the kind. We’ve all had our own encounters with these unforgiving monsters. From afar, these mirrors look like normal mirrors. But when you get up close to one of them to inspect it, it’s too late — you’ve already been lied to by this sad excuse for a reflection. As quickly as you can say, “Are my thighs REALLY that wide?” the mirror distorts your body into weird shapes (shapes, people!) that don’t so much as halfway resemble the way you know your body actually looks.

I’m almost one hundred percent positive these mirrors are manufactured solely for two arenas: dance studios and Hollister dressing rooms. Regardless, they unfortunately seem to be more prevalent than that.

So. What do you do when you come in contact with one of these dastardly little devils? Remember that mirrors don’t know you.

TODAY’S SELF-LOVE TIP: MIRRORS DON’T KNOW YOU.

The thing you need to remember about all mirrors (but especially the mean ones) is that they only reflect some sort of distorted, backwards image of your appearance. That’s it. They don’t reflect the real you.

• They don’t reflect how good of a friend you are.
• They don’t reflect how you make people feel.
• They don’t reflect the way it feels to hug you.
• They don’t reflect your empathy.
• They don’t reflect the way your family feels about you.
• They don’t reflect the way your friends feel about you.
• They don’t reflect how your children feel about you.
• They don’t reflect how your cats (in my case, ha) feel about you.

The truth is, mirrors are like those acquaintances you had in high school that you thought you’d never see again but, through some freak accident (read: Facebook) you interact with from time to time. They may act like they know you, but in reality, if they had to explain you to someone who’d never met you they’d be extremely limited.

MIRROR: “Who? Lindsay Durrenberger? Yeah, I know her. She’s about 5’6″ and has dirty blonde hair that’s kind of wavy and kind of curly and has a weird cowlick on the right side. She also stands weird because her left knee is wrong or something.”

PERSON: Yeah but I mean, what’s she like?

MIRROR: I just told you, didn’t I?

The only true part of the mirror’s evaluation of me is my height and hair color. My cowlick is on my LEFT side and my RIGHT knee was torn.

See? Mirrors don’t know beans about you. Don’t let them dictate your worth because you are SO much more than what meets the distorted eye of a piece of reflective metal.