I’ll go ahead and admit it: I need healthy doses of outside motivation to keep me on track on this weight loss journey.

I scan online success stories that populate the forums of health and fitness websites. I compete with my friends during daily or weekly Fitbit challenges. Before bed, I’ve been known to stick motivational quote-adorned Post-It Notes onto my treadmill, refrigerator, and mirror to “find” them the next morning in hopes to feel more invigorated and ready for the day ahead.

Don’t laugh. It works!

But, I digress. This is about the mirrors and how they lie.

Yesterday, I was doing a little reading while contemplating inner beauty versus outward appearances. I came across the following quote from playwright, essayist, (and vegetarian it turns out) George Bernard Shaw:

“You use a glass mirror to see your face; you use works of art to see your soul.”

I grabbed my Sharpie, hastily jotted it down onto my Post-It pad, removed the note from the pad and stuck it to my mirror.

I think that’s when my son’s Boy Scout leader called and interrupted my motivational “pre-gaming.”

After dealing with Boy Scout politics, a lost Lego, and a variety of other household emergencies I had all but forgotten about the quote I had stumbled across.

That’s totally why I write them down.

So this morning, as per my usual routine, I stumbled out of bed, attended to a few early morning comforts and made my way to the bathroom scale that sits at the foot of my Post-It Note-decorated full-length mirror. This is where I come face-to-face with… well myself obviously, but also with the quote I found yesterday.

“You use a glass mirror to see your face; you use works of art to see your soul.”

Thanks, Mr. Shaw. I needed that this morning.

See, your mirror can lie.

It’s a lie by omission.

It’ll tell you where the extra pounds are hiding. It’s great at showing you where you ought to focus your next few workouts.

But in offering you your reflection every day, it leaves out some of the most important parts of you: your motivation to continue your journey, your ability to juggle Scout meetings, lost Legos, in-laws, dust bunnies on the entertainment center while still making time to eat right and exercise, not to mention your strength to even begin a weight loss journey in the first place!

From time to time, when your mirror doesn’t provide exactly the reflection you think it ought to, just remember – mirrors can lie.

And often do.

When your mirror’s being ornery, concentrate on the parts of you that you cannot see in the mirror. Those are exactly the parts of you that will help to improve the parts of you that you can see in the mirror.