Posts Tagged ‘mirrors’

Life is a Hall of Mirrors…?

Thursday, February 19th, 2009

I was talking to one my partners and we waxed philosophical.   We were discussing the behaviours of  a mutual acquaintance who was not getting what they wanted from life.  They are someone of undoubted talent and the Universe has dealt them a pretty fair hand and all that is required to be a winner, and yet they don’t seem to be able to get ahead.  Now if we were talking about poker, then we might just say they are a lousy player and should quit.  However when it comes to playing the Game of Life, we are unable to walk away.

We analysed what was going on and it seemed that the core issue was they were saying one thing and actually doing and seeking quite the opposite.  It is a little bit like listening to someone say they want to visit Scotland and keep seeing them drive south.  I’m sure that they are not alone in this, how many of us fail to achieve the things we say we wish to because, deep down, they are not what we really want?  How many people are there who say they want to serve others but actually are more interested in helping themselves, or want to meet someone but never go out, or go out every night and communicate with no one?

I have often come to the conclusion that the true nature of things ( and people) is often the mirror opposite of the surface appearance and wonder if I wouldn’t be more successful if I always inverted my choices and actions.  Somehow I have never been brave enough to to try it…

I’d be very interested to know if any of this resonates with you and what your experiences and observations are.

“If somebody thinks they’re a hedgehog, presumably you just give ’em a mirror and a few pictures of hedgehogs and tell them to sort it out for themselves.”  Douglas Adams

“In the business world, the rearview mirror is always clearer than the windshield.” Warren Buffett

“How we think shows through in how we act. Attitudes are mirrors of the mind. They reflect thinking.”  David Joseph Schwartz

The World is a Mirror

Tuesday, March 25th, 2008

It is amazing how when we look about us, what we see reflects back our inner state, our anxieties and our fears. I guess most of us grew with parents and media warning that all this ‘free sex’ (What free sex?!) and drugs were taking us to hell in a hand cart. I’m now my parents’ age when they made these pronouncements and I can understand their fears, but I’m not sure that the world is so very different today. The state of the world is a bit like the fashion, in as much as the way it looks keeps changing but the elements keep on being recycled.

I think that what we notice going on around us tells us a lot about our inner world. If we see many things that scare us, I think this not only makes us afraid but arises from feeling scared in the first place. If we see struggle and competition everywhere, this is probably because we feel that we are struggling. It is a simplistic statement, but I think that there is evidence in the way the brain works that tells us that we notice things that are of importance to us1. It is at once an old idea, and at the cutting edge of physics to say that the microcosm reflects the macrocosm and that quantum physics must square with Einsteinian scale concepts.

So perhaps rather than trying to fix the World, maybe there is value in reflecting a little, and asking what is going on in our inner world. This may help take us forward a step or two on our journeys.

“If there is light in the soul, there will be beauty in the person. If there is beauty in the person, there will be harmony in the house. If there is harmony in the house, there will be order in the nation. If there is order in the nation, there will be peace in the world.” Chinese Proverb.

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