The Problem With Mirrors

What mirrors don’t show you is everything else.

For years I have often reflected (no pun intended) on the poem “The Man in the Glass,” author anonymous. I haven’t given too much thought to it because I have felt its message to generally be true; looking ourselves in the face will ultimately be our final judge in life.


That being said, this concept can only take us so far. I still believe that at the end of the day we will know our own faults and successes better than anyone, however the mirror misses some very important aspects of what make us… US.

The mirror fails to include our loved ones. While we toil away, judging what we see in the mirror, our loved ones can see us in perspective. Where we look at ourselves and see a series of events that have produced our reflections, our loved ones see value exposed. They don’t whittle away our good characteristics, but they allow a culmination of factors to determine their final opinion. Which final opinion is love unconditioned… which is why they are “loved ones.”

Another problem with mirrors is that they only show us, what I am calling, “discriminating value.” I am reaching beyond the physical when I say this, because rarely the problem with a persons reflection to them is physical… even when they may only believe it to be physical. It is a widely accepted fact that people who suffer from eating disorders have a physiological deficiency coupled with a physical acceptance. This being believed, the discriminating value I am referring to is that, depending on our perception of self worth, we tend to believe that issues in the mirror “are closer than they appear.” While this may be true on vehicles, we fail to see ourselves in the same perspective as others.

I would be the first person admitting to my personal imperfection. There are many things I believe I could compound on myself many mistakes in regards to poor, missed, or abused choices. Allowing these things to stack up would be extremely daunting and, to be quite honest, I have let these things stack up from time to time. While these moments of self-reflection can be launching pads into new and exciting experiences, the choice of what we see lies on our side of the mirror.

Another aspect the mirror fails to show us is the future. Unless we posses some magical mirror, similar to the Queen’s mirror in “Snow White,” our future remains undetermined. From the moment we leave the mirrors selective reflection, we create our experience. Happiness, security and (dare I say..) love, will not come to us like an unsuspected meteor headed towards earth’s surface, but will largely be the result of “line upon line” positive choices made after we leave the mirrors judgment. Wallowing in the mirrors discriminating value may skew our perception of reality.

Negating important and even vital aspects our physical reflection fails to project is similar to a jury throwing out evidence to a case. The difference is… we are the jury, the defendant, the prosecution and the judge. As we plead our case in front of life’s mirror, remember to include all the evidence.