The Mirror

The mirror provides us with a different point of view, another perspective. Theoretically, the mirror allows us to see ourselves as others see us. Mirrors are also designed to distort images. At amusement parks or museums, most of us have posed in front of mirrors that have made us look wide or skinny, short or tall, and crooked or humped. Many people believe that the department stores mirrors are designed so that you look slim, which makes you more apt to buy that outfit that looks good on you (only in the store). Likewise, I have heard anecdotes that the mirrors in the gym make you look skinny, so that you keep coming back. Or, maybe it’s that they make you look portly, so that you keep coming back. I guess it depends on whom you ask. Either way, the idea is that the mirror can be fashioned to alter reality, in order to affect your emotions, and subsequently, your behavior – whether that behavior be a laugh in the hall of mirrors, a purchase at Dillard’s, or a membership renewal at Gold’s Gym.

These days, I spend a great deal of time in the mirror, though it is not because I am vain. (At least, I hope that’s not the reason. Somebody check me on that and let me know you think that I’m wrong). As in most gyms, the walls at my gym are completely covered with mirrors. Lately, the cold weather has driven me indoors, thus I spend a lot of time on the treadmill and in front of the mirror. This has been beneficial, in that it allows me to check my running form: my gait, the amount of bounce in my stride, my arm swing, and many other factors that affect the efficiency with which I run. Again, I am not a natural runner, and my form is neither pretty nor graceful. I am the dude that makes you put your ipod on blast, in effort to drown out the pounding sound that I make. I am that dude that gets off the treadmill, and people wonder if I’ve broken it. Don’t laugh though, I’m working on it, and I am getting better. At least, that is what the mirror tells me.

One day last week, as I was cooling down on the treadmill, the mirror gave me some other good news. It told me how great a person I was. It complimented me on my altruism for putting myself through so much pain, in order to raise money for a charity. It remarked that I was a better person than are most people because I was improving upon my physical fitness, while most people slumbered. I am almost certain that the mirror patted me on my back for being a motivating factor in others’ lives. The mirror said that I was good – really good. In fact, in the span of about three minutes, the mirror replayed for me a lifetime of accomplishments. Smug, I left the gym and headed home.

While driving, I found a new mirror. Or, I should say more appropriately, God cast me onto another mirror, this one quite dissimilar from the first one. This one was spiritual, rather than simply mental or physical. Fading were the images of self-glory, self-pride and self-righteousness. In fact, dying was any image of self. I pulled into a parking lot to get a better look. The more I thought of God’s contribution to my success, the less distorted became the image in the mirror: there was less me and more God. I found myself again revisiting my accomplishments over the years. I saw reality. I saw God as the impetus behind my triumphs, the concealer of my limitations, and the magnifier of my not-so-stellar abilities.

In the first mirror, I saw me, and I liked what I saw. In the second mirror, I saw God within, around and before me, and I loved what I saw.

On various occasions, I have seen a different me when I have looked into the mirror. I have seen the pleasant and the repulsive, depending upon my mood, my stage or status in life, or others’ opinions of me. As I said at the onset of this post, the mirror can cause us to see ourselves as others see us, whether that casts us in a positive or negative light. Indeed, I agree that the mirror has the propensity to distort reality. Reality is that within each of us lies the picture of perfection.

When the image in your mirror is pleasing, do not forget the source of that delight. When the image in your mirror is unpleasant, take a second look, focusing on God. I believe that you will love what you see.