Is that YOU in the Mirror?

Chances are, you looked at yourself at least once today….

“That's me," you think to yourself.

But what is your self?

Strictly speaking, when you look in a mirror, you see the face you recognize as your own. But recognizing yourself is more than just identifying the face in the mirror. When you flip through your old photos, you see snapshotss of yourself as a toddler on a tricycle, that picture of a grade-schooler standing behind a science fair project, the high school yearbook portrait of an akward adolescent, perhaps with acne, braces and glasses possibly, then there's that photo of a svelte young adult in a college graduation gown. None of these look like the face now staring back at you in the mirror. Yet somehow you tie all these disparate persons together as your self.

The concept of self is related to a number of ideas of mind and consciousness.

"Mirrors don’t lie but they reflect only a part of your truth"

The mirror tells a story, about you, about your life.

The day you were born, you arrived with a clean slate, a mind as pure as nature. Sure there was a little pre-programming in your DNA, but nothing in your mind that couldn’t be changed if you had the will to do so. You grew up listening to all the beliefs, all the programming of your parents, your family, your school teachers, the movies, the music, your peers and everyone else who had some sort of influence over you. Gradually over time your beliefs became solid rocks and you believed what you believed, thinking it was your own beliefs, prejudices, principles, rules of life, and values.

Then one day you start to question one of your own beliefs, and this is the day that something magical happened: you realize your reality is not really your own, it’s been created by what you believe. Then something even more magical happens: you realize that you can change your beliefs.

You start to look at the world differently asking yourself what you would truly like to believe about yourself, about the world, about the people in your life. Then, life gets in the way. You forget about that magical power and get busy with life: going to school, getting an education, getting a job, meeting someone, raising a family. And possibly you become concerned about what others believe about you.

More turmoil comes your way, separation, divorce, loss of a job, health issues, displacement…you name it. In my case, all of the above. Then as you get older you start to feel a pull, that magic again. You start to question life.

You’re in a cycle: the cycle of life. You were born to find your purpose in life and you might feel, ‘It’s too late now’, but it’s never too late, never!

Life is only reflections of what we allow ourselves to see.

So, What do you see? What do you allow yourself to see? Are you limiting the kind of life that you could create?

Now ask yourself again, "Is that really YOU in the mirror?"