You Should be dancing like a 9-year-old

Don't lie, you've done it. We have all done it. If you really haven't, then your life needs some pizzazz. (Or maybe it's not as normal as I thought it was and I'm an anomaly...)

Dancing in front of a mirror.

Honestly, it is an opportune place to do so. You can see how cool you look (or not cool) and have a ton of fun, by yourself, in secret.

I did it all the time growing up, in my bathroom mirror, door tightly shut.

I had forgotten about it until recently.

I like to take my two girls to the movies, because I love movies and movie theater popcorn, but I don't like how much it costs. If I take them, then we can use the money from their parents. Win-win, right?

Recently, I took them to see "Incredibles 2." They had already seen it, but I hadn't, so it was definitely necessary to force them to attend again.

After we got our tickets and popcorn (the best part) the younger one and I were going to stop by the bathroom.

Trailing far behind, I walked into the bathroom and caught my sweet 9-year-old dancing in front of a big mirror in the fancy bathroom. She was going at it. Faces, movements of all types. Honestly, it was both the funniest and the most heartwarming thing I had ever seen.

She froze, embarrassed, and we laughed. I asked her what she would have done if a stranger walked in. It was a great story (and don't tell her I have now shared it with the world.)

That's something I love about my 9-year-old. She loves herself.

She is a young girl living in an interesting culture, trying to figure things out. She at times remarks about how her legs jiggle when she moves, how her stomach is squishy, how celebrities don't look as pretty in person as they do in pictures and movies.

And thank goodness she talks.

Thank goodness she doesn't hold these perceptions and evaluations inside of her where they could fester and grow deeper.

Thank goodness we are able to have conversations about how everybody's legs jiggle, everybody's stomach is squishy, that's how they are made, that's how they're "supposed" to be.

Thank goodness she understands that celebrities aren't as they appear in photos, thank goodness she reminds us of that fact oh so often and loves watching YouTube videos of models being digitally manipulated.

Will she always be this way, so open and curious and free? Will she always remember to appreciate her body, regardless of its form?

Maybe, but probably not.

But I do hope that wherever she goes, she remembers to dance in front of the mirror, to speak out loud about what she is thinking, and to be confident in the person she is because she is an amazing one for sure.

We are still 9-years-old too. We can still be so curious and open and free. We can still speak out loud. These assets aren't gone from us, but maybe they've been in hibernation.

Dance in front of the mirror, I dare you.

And don't forget to give yourself grace for it all. For what you see, for what you wish you saw, all of it. There is abundant grace.