The Mirror Will Tell You Honestly What Are You As A Person

I have a habit of mirror gazing and looking at my reflection in the mirror.  I do that at times when I am in the midst of a crisis, or when I feel I am standing at a crossroads and don't know what to do.

Indeed a person who does not know the psychology of mirror gazing ... might misconstrue me as somebody going nuts ... or me within a stone-throw away from the loony bin. Or they may even think I have paroxysmal bouts of narcissism ... and they think I don't have shame showing the whole world I was scrutinizing myself (all overt signs showed I was too self-involved with myself).

To the uninformed  ... sorry guys you have judged me quick and prematurely. Yes ... all the obvious narcissistic signs are there (self-loving and self-admiring) but that's not what I was doing. I was not looking at how many wrinkles I have ... how many grey hairs said hello to the world today ... or how aquiline my nose was. You are just too gullible and too naive to jump to conclusions ... the rule of thumb is ... sometimes what you see is not always what it means.

I was merely saying Hi to my inner self. In times of self-doubt, I look at myself in the mirror ... self-absorbed and unflinching. In psychology, it is my way of confronting my thoughts and emotions ... and by so doing ... it helps me gain insight and a deeper understanding of myself and the stressor at hand and how I am reacting to it. For health professionals mirrors are often used to explore our feelings ... and reexamine our defenses.

Seeing my reflection in the mirror helps me to acknowledge myself, my strengths, and my weaknesses, and how my coping mechanisms are faring. It helps me keep abreast of my emotions, and it gives me an idea of how people look at me as a person. It paved the way to give me a 20/20 vision and see for myself my own little imperfections.

Looking at myself in the mirror is not an exercise in self-adoration ... far from that. I did not stand there winking at myself ... flashing Korean finger-heart signs ... or throwing flying kisses to my mirror image. That's very juvenile and preposterous!

I was there because I wanted to check on how I felt about myself ... and how I managed the running soap opera in my life. When my self-esteem was at its lowest ebb ... I was wrestling with negativities ... and I was enveloped with ambivalent emotions of hate, anger, jealousy, and sadness. And when there was no one available person to give me a crying shoulder ... this "do it myself method" comes in handy. I found the mirror so cathartic as it provides much-needed mental and psychological comfort and solace.

Psychology is right ... mirror-gazing can help. In times of emotional crisis, we need a face-to-face powwow with another person to reduce stress. In the absence of a compassionate ear ... a mirror can be a good substitute.

Having a talk with another person (or if nobody is available the mirror is a willing proxy even if it can't talk) helps us stay emotionally connected with ourselves. With their help, we come to understand who we are ... based on the reflections shown (whether it is the other person ... or the mirror.) Seeing through their eyes ... we know how they feel and how we feel in return.

What we see in their facial expressions (whether it is the other person or the mirror) becomes a powerful reflector of our own pain and suffering.

I can't emphasize enough how SELF AWARENESS is a must. It allows us to see things from the perspective of others. If we don't know ourselves we don't have a good sense of who we are. We are just like a headless chicken ... squawking without direction.