Mirror, Mirror

I just finished this sweet little book called Still Life: The Art of Nurturing a Tranquil Soul,

by Mary Jenson. I found it while perusing the used book section at the local consignment shop~ AKA, the BEST place to find good reads. There were so many nuggets of truth and ideas to contemplate. WIthin the last section, I came across the following insightful thought. “We need to find a mirror…that will reflect the truth about our lives” (Mary Jenson, 1997). It got me thinking…and reflecting…

Years ago, a mentor to me gave me some good advice. To give you some context, I was upset that a fellow teacher I was coaching seemed to be unwilling to change her teaching style to best meet the needs of her students. He said, “Amy, there are some people that look in the mirror and others that look out the window”. Wow. How true is that? In all that we do, we can either look inward to find our flaws and ways to grow, or we can look to what others are doing poorly and ignore our own flaws. I believe we all do both. Sometimes I go overboard in reflection, and other times I spend the whole day daydreaming and avoiding it. I believe both are unhealthy, when in the extreme.

This reminds me of the verse “Why do you see the speck that is in your brother’s eye, but do not notice the log that is in your own eye? Or how can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take

the speck out of your eye,’ when there is a log in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your brother’s eye.” (Matthew 7: 1-5). How often can we see others faults first? Do we just want to ignore our own?

With that being said, I believe it is important to not only look in the mirror, but to find the right kind of mirror. This may come in the form of a friend, a spouse, a coach, an accountability partner. Ask them- does this reflect who I want to be? It is important to reflect who we truly are, but also to know if there is something stuck between our teeth…

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Journal Prompt

• Are you more of a mirror person or window person? Why?

• Who could help be your mirror? Maybe you could support each other in this process! Who could you reach out to today?

• When was a time that you wish you had someone point out the ‘speck’ or ‘log’ in your eye?

• When did someone point out a flaw to you without grace? Be encouraged that there is a right and wrong way to be a mirror.