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DrWatson · 70-79, M
I don't know about "must", but here is something that happened to me.
I went through high school and college with a certain self-perception of what I looked like to others. During my 20's, I tried to hold onto that image in my mind, only to be confronted with the image in the mirror which showed me that I was "aging".
But one day, it hit me: "Stop thinking of yourself as an old 20-something. Think of yourself as a young 30-something." And when that thought hit me, I could almost see the face in the mirror change. It was as if I had learned anew how to regard myself.
Of course, this was not just about "looks". It was an acceptance that I was moving on to a new stage of life. But that realization was actually accompanied by a "sudden shift" in how my mirror reflection looked to me.
This has happened to me over and over, in my late 30's, late 40's, etc.
I went through high school and college with a certain self-perception of what I looked like to others. During my 20's, I tried to hold onto that image in my mind, only to be confronted with the image in the mirror which showed me that I was "aging".
But one day, it hit me: "Stop thinking of yourself as an old 20-something. Think of yourself as a young 30-something." And when that thought hit me, I could almost see the face in the mirror change. It was as if I had learned anew how to regard myself.
Of course, this was not just about "looks". It was an acceptance that I was moving on to a new stage of life. But that realization was actually accompanied by a "sudden shift" in how my mirror reflection looked to me.
This has happened to me over and over, in my late 30's, late 40's, etc.