LIFE LESSON FROM A ZIT
LIFE LESSON FROM A ZIT
One Saturday morning, at age 15, I looked in the mirror and was
horrified to see a huge, red pimple on my forehead. To a
teenager that is a major crisis, especially when half a tube of
Clearasil only makes it look worse. Who would have predicted
that this zit would teach me a life lesson?
Silly now that I look back on this incident, but at the time I
was consumed with shame. I even canceled my weekend plans
because I didn't want to be seen in public.
So you can imagine my rage when my sister snapped a photo,
preserving this ugly image forever. (Lucky for her, she could
run faster than me.) And, to add insult to injury, my mother
lovingly placed the picture in the family album!
But it turned out that this was the best thing she could have
done. During a visit back home 12 years later I was looking
through old family albums, and came across "THE photograph,"
which I recognized instantly from the orange dress I had been
wearing (and which I never wore again.) Bravely I mustered up
the courage to examine the photo, and to relive the humiliation
of that abominable zit.
You've probably guessed by now that I had to search pretty hard
to see the blemish on my face in the picture. If I looked very
closely, I could detect a small speck on my forehead. It
certainly didn't cover my face as I had recalled that it did.
That photo sure put things in focus for me -- and not just in
terms of zits.
I instantly realized that by fixating on a single, minor
blemish, I had become a self-pitying recluse. For a couple of
days I had lost all objectivity, allowing this pimple to take
over my life, magnifying its negative impact.
This is precisely what your