Mirrors

This post is not about real mirrors that we turn to every day to inspect our appearance.  I'm writing about ways we see our reflections.......in other people.   I read an interesting theory many years ago about other people reflecting our negative traits back to us.  There was an exercise in the book so I got a pencil and a piece of paper and continued reading.  The author asked the reader to jot down all the things that someone else was doing that they found upsetting.  It didn't matter how long the list was just that it contained a reference to every single thing the reader couldn't tolerate in that person.  Then the author instructed the reader to turn the paper over and write down all the things from the front side of the paper that the reader did or had done themselves.  This was certainly an eye opener for me.  I can be just as judgmental as the next person and find it much too easy to criticize others.  After I recovered from my shock I decided to work harder at being less critical and more tolerant. It is true that I critique others' wardrobe and styling choices but beneath that is the knowledge that I make the same miss-steps as everyone else.  I watch my "mirrors" every day and understand that I will never be perfect but I can be genuine.