Correcting the Narrative of Your Life

I have tired eyes. I know this because enough people throughout my life have repeated the same phrase to me, "you look tired." Admittedly it's not the most thrilling thing to be told. While there have been many seasons in my life when I was in fact tired, most of the time, I'm not. Or at least no more tired than the average human. In fact, I get about 8 hours of sleep every night.

So, the fact remains, that for whatever reason, my eyes tell a false narrative about who I am or how I feel. I'm sure I could learn a makeup hack to makeup to compensate for their sleepy nature but the truth is, the idea of employing a makeup routine daily that is more than a few swipes and a couple seconds tires me more than my eyes could ever betray.

Instead I've learned how to correct a false narrative in my life. I’ll admit that there have been many days in the past when I allowed what someone else said to me change how I felt in the moment.

Them: ”You look tired.”
Me: (Not feeling tired but now internally struggling with the questions, What do they know that I don’t? Am I tired? I guess I must be if they say I look it.) “Yes I am tired.”

But eventually I realized that I’m not usually tired and that’s OK too. I don’t have to change my temperament or energy or understanding of myself to fit the narrative of someone else’s perceptions. It’s perfectly acceptable to appreciate someone’s perspective or insight without affirming or agreeing.

So now I work on saying with a smile, “No I”m not tired.”

These tired eyes were given to me with intention. They were designed by a creator who knew that lessons are best learned through imperfection and how something looks is not always the truth. My creator knew that I would one day look at a picture of myself and recognize that yes, sometimes I do look tired and that doesn’t mean I can’t post the picture or feel differently than I look.