There's a mumo in my mirror!

(Published in the website of STI, my previous school. Edited. Warning: I was rather mean when I wrote this.)

How can you face the problem if the problem is your face?

I bet you laughed really hard when you first heard these words. But if you care to spend a few seconds pondering on this, you will realize that behind the joke is a serious message. As they say, jokes are half-truths.

So how, indeed, are you going to face the problem if it happens to be that cursed, six-square-inches area above your neck? Look at the mirror, some might suggest with a big grin. But how can you face the mirror if you get exasperated (or scared) every time you do it? You’re falling in a bottomless pit…

A not-so-nice appearance can cause trouble. What if when you look at the mirror, you always see Bakekang? Or your pimples just disappeared because there’s no more space for them to grow? You might end up robbing a bank to hire Vicky Belo's services.

Hey dudes, take it easy. So what if you’re not the Crush ng Bayan? So what if they stared at you from head to toe when you volunteered to be a candidate for Mr. University? So what if you don’t look like me, er, Brad Pitt?

Don’t you know that you are an Adonis incarnate? That is, if you consider yourself so. You are as good-looking as you think. Others won’t perceive you as handsome unless you feel handsome.

I’m not advising you of course to fool yourself. Some people just happened to be blessed with head-turning looks. So all right, they deserve to get Ms. Universe (while you settle for Ms. Halloween).

What I want to say is that we should accept reality. When it comes to physical beauty, men are not created equal. But God is not unfair, ok?! Each of us has his own crosses to carry. Life would be pretty boring without the pains and worries. Life is a game--if you’re thinking right now that you are ugly, you lose!

So go on. Look at the mirror and tell yourself, I am the most handsome monster—oops, human being—in the world!