Magic Mirror On The Wall—Who…?

Magic Mirror on the Wall—Who thwarted my efforts today?* Blaming someone or something else is an easy out—letting yourself off the hook, without needing to face the truth of the matter. As the saying goes, ‘What goes around, comes around.’ Pointing a finger only serves to set up a boomerang effect and the cause of the situation going awry comes back some other time. When it comes around, it might seem like others are out to defeat you—because you designated them as the source of why situations go awry.

Reflecting upon the actions you have taken and how those actions affect you and those around you will provide the insight you need to remedy anything that has gone awry.

One technique to unravel how things went awry is free writing continuously about the situation without stopping. Writing allows your subconscious to reveal what actions led to the incremental outcomes and the role you played in it. Free writing makes it easier to assess your actions honestly because bringing your thoughts to the foreground you are less likely to censor what you write, thus you will see the patterns that led to the situation.

Getting in touch with the truth of your actions allows you to rid yourself of the fly in the ointment. It is easy to rationalize your work, actions and emotions when you simply mentally reflect on what occurred. True introspection, however, involves being able to see the rawness of your actions—both positive and negative. Accepting that truth in its entirety without making it into an ideal is critical.

Acknowledging your flaws and being honest with yourself can bring you to a profound understanding of who you truly are and how you function in situations. Looking within and being able to see and accept who you truly are is well worth the effort.

The answers to your questions lie inside you. All you need do is Look. Listen and Trust.

*Adapted from Cinderella, Grimm's Fairy Tales by Charles Perrault