by Trish Little

Created on: May 10, 2008

MIRROR, MIRROR

"You're no Elle are you!" the 50-something confessed to the overweight image reflected back at her from the all-too-revealing full length mirror, but rather than wallowing in a feeling of deflation and depression, she smiled and patted herself down in self-assured confidence and satisfaction. At this stage in her life, Emily was confident and content with who she was. But it hadn't always been that way.

Very easily, and as fresh as if they had occurred only days earlier, her memories shot back decades.

"I'm so ugly, Mum," the distressed 16-year-old Emily cried as she stood before the mirror.

Her mother had tried to console and help her understand that her body structure would never emulate stick thin Twiggy, the world famous model of the time. No amount of hugging and reassuring words would convince her that in fact she was a beautiful young girl.

When Twiggy's image began to appear in all the magazines, most of Emily's friends had easily been able to thin down by resorting to a rabbit food diet, but her lack of self discipline and love of food would not allow her to chew on lettuce and raw carrot for more than two mouthfuls.

The teenaged Emily had stared at the mirror, hating the image it showed. It was totally wrong. Apart from not fitting into the skinny mould, there was the hair as well. Not the silky straight curling-up-at-the-bottom style which was the in' hairdo. No. Her hair was short and dark with tight curls sitting closely to her head. She had lost count of the different methods of straightening she had tried; from sticky-tape to the myriad clips, to wrapping her head in a scarf every night, but none of the methods lasted more than an hour after the hair was released from the binds. In her mind, her hair resembled steel wool, and she hated it.

The older Emily could still feel the pain her younger self had experienced so long ago.

"You survived didn't you, you old chook!" she laughed aloud at herself.

Her memories then jumped a decade as she recalled another period in her life when she stood before a mirror.

Thirty weeks pregnant with her second child, the 26-year-old Emily was once again insecure and unhappy with her look. The pregnancy hadn't been a welcomed one and she had suffered illness throughout. As she stood before the mirror, pumpkin on a pimple' was the description she felt was fitting to the image. Unlike her first pregnancy when she hardly showed even when she was overdue, this one had blown out within weeks, and she had stopped

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