An honest look in the mirror...

Ever thought about a mirror? Seriously..it is glass that you have lost the ability to look THROUGH and it rather looks back at you. Now that seems simplistic I know..but it is true. A good look in a mirror does us all good sometimes. Mirrors reveal flaws and beauty...with equal honesty. Think for a moment about mirrors...

(1)Mirror vs. Window...a Window allows you to look out at others...a Mirror forces you to look at yourself. Too often it is easy to look down our noses at others..untill it is our face in the mirror. And while you may see a slight reflection in a window...it is alway opaque and we pretty much can see what we want to see. A mirror blocks the view of others and puts us center stage for inspection.

(2) Why is breaking a mirror bad luck? Because ancient societies believed a mirror not only revealed your physical body but your soul...(which incidentally is why vampire myths state a vampire, a souless creature of death, cannot see themselves in a mirror)...to break a mirror was to break your soul...and it would take seven (a mystical number always linked to religious beliefs, ie. God created the world in seven days) years for the soul to "mend" itself.

(3) Beauty is in the eye of the beholder. We are the most powerful critics of ourselves. Others may see beauty in us but when we look in the mirror we tend to be critical..of the mole, the hair out of place, bag under our eyes. And there in lies the effectiveness of a mirror. The effectiveness of a mirror lays in our ability to be honest with ourselves...which is not always easy. A vain person sees themself in the mirror and only sees beauty..they cannot see the flaws that others see because they refuse to see them...a despondent person may only see flaws in themselves where others see good...an honest person will have the ability to see both the good and the bad.

(4) You cannot change....what you cannot acknowledge. If you look in the mirror and don't see your hair a mess..you won't fix it. The simple fact is that alcholics cannot recover till they acknowledge they have a problem, wife beaters cannot stop till they realize how wrong it is and you really cannot fix a problem till you recognize that there is a problem in the first place. The hardest part of looking into a mirror, especially the mirror of your soul, is acknowledging a problem.

So...having said all that philisophical mumbo jumbo...I have been spending a lot of time lately looking in the mirror. Looking at myself...I am 33...and I'll be damned if I dont have a lot to show for it. I have made the mistake too many people make and blamed others for my misfortune. My exes screwed with my head, screwed up my life, blah blah blah....and while they certainly didn't help they are not to blame for where I am at in my life today...they cannot take credit for any good that has happened...so it would be both foolish, immature and silly to blame them for the bad.

No...I have to own up to My choices...even the choice of marrying My ex wives...so if I am to blame for the good and the bad in my life..if I am going to change the direction of my life it is time for a close look in the mirror...

So...while right now I may or may not be ready or willing to do that in this forum....I will just sit here and listen to the voices in my head...