The Mirrors in Our Life

We all have that person in our life that gets under our skin.  That the mere thought of them brings up feelings of anxiety, frustration, anger.  Yep.  That's the one - you know who I am talking about!  Do you ever wonder why that person is in your life?  Why, when you would so otherwise choose to NOT have that person in your life?  Oh my, the answer is so obvious that we often overlook it!

These are the people that act as our mirrors.  These are the ever-so-important teachers that come into our lives to give us the chance to explore ourselves deeper.  They are the "button-pushers" for a reason: we NEED them.  We need to have them hold up a mirror for us to show us that we are not better or worse than anyone else and that we are not alone.  "Every aspect (of human nature) that exists on the planet exists within you." ("Courage to Love Yourself", Janice Mae Parviainen).  If we didn't have these people who get under our skin come into our lives and hold up that mirror for us, we wouldn't have the opportunity to recognize that which we don't like, or wish we could change about ourselves.  You see, we wouldn't be able to recognize those traits in others, if we first didn't recognize them in ourselves.  For you to know someone is happy, you yourself must know how happy feels.  For you to know joy, sorrow, love, envy, anger; you yourself must know how joy, sorrow, love, envy and anger feel.  For you to know what forgiveness looks like, you yourself must feel forgiveness first.

These people, our mirrors, triggers, "button-pushers" are NOT there to make our lives difficult!  In fact, the opposite is true.  They are there as teachers and they are a great gift!  They are in our lives to encourage us to see the truth about ourselves.  They are there to inspire change in our lives.  They are there to push us along the path of evolution or ascension.  You will notice that these "button-pushers" often come into our lives, create chaos or drama at the least appropriate times...this is no accident, but an opportunity for you to change your pattern, change that behaviour in yourself that is festering in your world. 

Sometimes it is hard to accept that these traits or behaviours are a part of us, but the simple truth of it is that if they didn't keep popping up around us in annoying ways it wouldn't be OUR lesson to learn.  And in those moments we have a CHOICE - do we keep reliving the behaviours or do we take the opportunity to learn from them?  If we choose to learn from them and challenge ourselves to break our patterns or behaviours that we don't like or no longer need, we will find that we are able to reclaim our power and inner authority.  You see, we are NOT changing the emotion of anger, for example, but we are changing the way that we express that anger.  It is OKAY to feel it, but the way we express it is often what upsets us.  When we honor and acknowledge our emotions or behaviours (even the ones we don't like) we have a choice and a chance to change the outward expression of them.  Reclaiming our personal power lies within being aware of the choice and finding solitude in the inner authority that grants us the personal permission to make significant changes in our lives.

This week, don't look at the "button-pushers" in your life as a pain in the ass.  Look at them as gifts and teachers and give yourself the space and personal permission to honor your truest self by making the changes in your life that best suit you.

Dream it.  Live it.  BE IT.

Juli