I stared at my reflection in the fulllengthmirror for what seemed aneternity1. Next to me were the dozens ofdresses I’d already thrown into the“reject2”pile.

Dress shopping for my thirty -yearhigh school reunion had become veryfrustrating. I’d gained weight slowly overthe years. How could I possibly find adress that looked good on me and howcould I attend the reunion looking likethis？ I hadn’t seen most of my classmatessince high school graduation. Surely，everyone would notice I had gainedweight. I felt embarrassed and ashamed. Ifinally chose a simple black dress， onesize too big， so it would be loose3 andcover my curves4.

That evening I tried on the dress againat home. Who was I kidding？ The dresslooked horrible！ Just then， as if on cue5，my husband and young son walked in.

“Mom， what are you wearing？”Myson giggled6.“That dress is too big！ ”

My husband agreed. I looked at myreflection once more; I looked like I waswearing a sack7. I don’t know whatcame over me， but I started to laughuntil happy tears fell. It felt so good tolaugh！ It must have been contagious8，because we all stood there laughing.

I returned the dress the next dayand in its place I bought a bright red，formfitting9 dress！ This time when Istood in front of the mirror， I couldn’tbelieve it—I loved what I saw.

“Wow， you’re so beautiful！ ”myhusband said， when I turned around toshow him.

On the day of the reunion I wasnervous. I slowly walked into the venue10.

“Honey， there’s no way you can’tbe seen with that beautiful red dress，”my husband said.“Flaunt11 it！ ”

He knew just what to say to makeme feel better， and he was right. Justthen， one of my friends ran over tohug me.

“You look amazing，” she said，excited.“I couldn’t miss you walking inwith that cute dress！ ”

That evening I reminisced12，laughed and danced the night away.

That was nine years ago. Sincethen， I have learned to love my body.

That moment I stood in front of themirror was a turning point for me. Irealized later that those dresses I tried ondidn’t look bad on my body; it was myinsecurities13 that made them look bad.

My reflection in the mirror was thereflection of my lack of confidence.

But nowadays， Ilove what I see！

我凝視著全身鏡子里自己的模樣良久。旁邊是我已經(jīng)扔到“廢品”堆里的幾十件連衣裙。

為我的三十年高中同學(xué)聚會買衣服變得非常令人沮喪。這些年來，我的體重慢慢增加。我怎么可能找到一件穿起來很好看的衣服，我又怎么能以這副模樣參加聚會？自從高中畢業(yè)后，我就再也沒見過我的大多數(shù)同學(xué)了?？隙總€人都會注意到我變胖了。我感到尷尬和羞愧。我最終選擇了一件簡單的黑色連衣裙，大了一碼，這樣它會很寬松，能遮住我的曲線。

那天晚上，我在家里又試穿了這條裙子。我在騙誰呢？這條裙子看起來糟透了！就在這時，我的丈夫和年幼的兒子走了進來。

“媽媽，你穿的是什么？”我兒子咯咯地笑道，“那條裙子太大了！”

我丈夫也同意。我又看了看自己的倒影；我看起來像是穿著一個麻袋。我不知道自己是哪根筋不對了，但我開始笑，笑得流出了眼淚。笑的感覺真好！它一定具有傳染性，因為我們都站在那里大笑。

第二天我把這條裙子退了回去，并買了一條鮮紅色的合身的裙子替代它！這一次，當(dāng)我站在鏡子前時，我簡直不敢相信———我喜歡我所看到的。

“哇，你真漂亮！”當(dāng)我轉(zhuǎn)過身來給丈夫看時，他說道。

聚會那天我很緊張。我慢慢地走進會場。

“親愛的，你不可能不穿那條漂亮的紅色連衣裙讓人看看?！蔽艺煞蛘f，“炫耀一下！”

他知道該說什么讓我感覺更好，他是對的。就在這時，我的一個朋友跑過來擁抱我。

“你看起來棒極了?！彼d奮地說，“你穿著那條可愛的裙子走進來，我怎么能錯過呢！”

那天晚上，我整晚回憶著舊事，大笑著，盡情跳舞。

那是九年前的事了。從那以后，我學(xué)會了愛我的身體。

我站在鏡子前的那一刻對我來說是一個轉(zhuǎn)折點。后來我意識到，我試過的那些衣服穿在身上并不難看；是我的不安全感讓它們看起來很糟糕。

鏡子里我的倒影是我缺乏自信的寫照。

但現(xiàn)在，我喜歡我所看到的！

▏Notes

1. eternity 永恒，永久

2. reject 次品，廢品

3. loose 寬松的

4. curve 曲線

5. cue 暗示，提示

6. giggle 咯咯地笑

7. sack 大麻布袋

8. contagious 具有感染力的

9. formfitting 合身的

10. venue （活動的）場所

11. flaunt 炫耀

12. reminisce 敘舊；回憶舊事

13. insecurity 不安全，無把握