Who Paints Your Picture???

I read this from a forwarded mail. Liked it very much......

After years of terrorizing the countryside, hunting deer, poaching
livestock, killing game, Tiger grew long in the tooth. Finally, he knew it
was time to retire. So he packed his bag: "Poor self-esteem? Check. Poor
body image? Check? Poor self-image? Check. Self-portrait? Uh ... oh, well,
three out of four ain't bad."

Tiger ambled into town and came to stand before the Three Little Pigs
Retirement Home Inc. He rang the bell, and the first little pig appeared on
the landing above. "What do you want?" asked the little pig.

"I come here to retire," Tiger replied.

"Ooooh. I don't think so," the little pig declared. "You're not like us.
You've got big teeth. Very dangerous. We can't let you in."

Tiger, having poor self-image, went to the dentist to improve these apparent
deficiencies, and had his teeth removed. The next day, he returned to the
Three Little Pigs Retirement Home Inc. "What do you want?" asked the second
little pig.

"I have no more teeth. I come here to retire," Tiger replied once more.

"Ooooh. No, no, no. That just won't do," the little pig exclaimed. "You're
different. You have sharp claws. You scare us. We can't let you in."

No teeth, no claws, no self-portrait
Tiger took his poor self-esteem and even worse body-image to the manicurist
and had his claws removed. The next day, he returned to the Three Little
Pigs Retirement Home Inc. "What do you want?" demanded the third little pig.

"I have no more claws. I come here to retire," Tiger repeated.

"Ooooh. Let me see," the little pig muttered as he disappeared from sight.
Tiger heard much whispering and commotion behind the big wooden doors.
"Okay, come in," said the little pig.

Tiger strolled through the doors, and there stood the three little pigs,
grinning ear to ear. Suddenly they jumped on Tiger. Squealing with delight,
they beat him up and sent him packing. No teeth. No claws. Yippee! Finally
they got even with Tiger for terrorizing the animals.

Tiger should have known better. He should have accepted who he is and not
try to conform to someone else's image of him. What tiger in his right mind
lets a pig paint his portrait? He should have painted a self-portrait
instead.

Do you seek to improve your body or your body image? Do you seek to improve
your claws or your nails, or do you improve your self-esteem? What do you
see when you look in the mirror?

So, who paints your portrait?