Perspective

I have a two-sided mirror in my bathroom. One side shows a reflection of things as they are, the other magnifies.

I can get lost in the magnified side. My pores look HUGE as do the little fine hairs on my face. I will find myself, plucking, trimming, squeezing and pulling until my face looks acceptable to me.

Today after washing my face, I looked in the mirror and all looked fine. Then I flipped it to the magnified side. I was horrified! Out came the hair trimmer, the tweezers and coverup.

What changed from when I looked at my face in the mirror to when I flipped it to the magnified side? Just my perspective.

I have found the same thing to be true in my life.

To me, I live life on the magnified side. Everything looks huge and messy and hairy. I can get lost in the 'huge pores' that are my problems. I get weighed down by the 'fine hairs' that others would never even notice.

I have few friends that I can confide in and can trust in their advice and perspective. They don't see me or my life in the same magnified way that I do. From their perspective, they can show me that things aren't really as ghastly or as nasty as I think they are.

During a morning walk, I shared an issue in our family that is weighing on my heart. My friend listened quietly. Then she pointed out something that I had never thought of before- or even realized that I was doing. Because I was so caught up in this issue, (too close to it perhaps) I was unable to see that I was contributing to the problem instead of helping to make it better.

I am so thankful for my friends. They are wise and sincere, honest and inspired. They help me to take a step back from the mirror and see things the way they are- which is usually much different than what I have convinced myself that they are.

Magnified mirrors definitely serve a purpose- to show you that missed black, wiry hair that has grown out of your chin overnight. But don't forget to take a step back and realize that when you examine anything too close, imperfections are sure to be found and those imperfections can make you want to crawl back in bed and never get out.

Thankfully we don't live under magnification. And whatever problems you have- there is always another way to look at them.

You just have to take a step back.