The Mirror

Written in 2018

Lately, life has been holding up some very powerful mirrors.

Yes, I know that most of the time I have no idea what I'm really feeling or thinking.

I also believe that the incredible energy surrounding us—call it the Universe, God, or simply life, whatever feels right to you—is constantly trying to help us understand ourselves.

One of the ways it does that is through mirrors.

And honestly...

sometimes those mirrors are incredibly annoying.

I wake up feeling wonderful.

I'm smiling.

The day begins with hope.

Then, suddenly, everything changes.

Instead of a cheerful "good morning," someone greets me with a complaint.

On my way to a meeting, drivers cut me off from every direction and I almost have an accident.

By the end of the day, people seem argumentative, impatient, and rude.

Then someone says one sentence...

and I can't stop thinking about it.

​

There it is again.

The mirror.

​

The mirror always points to something unresolved inside me.

Something I secretly say to myself...

but would never allow anyone else to say to me.

The problem is that most of the time I'm not even aware of that inner dialogue.

So life finds a creative way to reveal it.

It appears right in front of me,

asking me to pay attention.

Is my anger toward that person really anger toward myself?

Maybe.

Or perhaps I'm simply angry at the messenger for exposing a wound I wasn't ready to see.

Because at that level,

it is always a wound.

If someone tells me,

"Stop wasting your time and find a real job,"

I don't get upset.

Why?

Because I know, with complete confidence, that I am exactly where I need to be.

I trust my path.

I trust myself.

But if someone tells me,

"Maybe it's time to stop eating so much and go on a diet,"

that is a different story.

That comment stirs something inside me.

Not because they are right,

but because I have already been saying those very words to myself.

The mirror is rarely exact.

In fact, most of the time it isn't.

The situation doesn't have to match our inner world perfectly.

It only needs to awaken the emotion that is already living there.

That emotion is the clue.

That emotion is the doorway.

So perhaps the real questions are these:

What mirrors keep appearing in my life?

Who are the people surrounding me?

Do I hear more criticism... or more encouragement?

Am I surrounded by anger... or by joy?

What kind of energy fills my days?

Perhaps the world around me is showing me something...

About the world within me.