Mirror, Mirror On The Wall

The Power Of Acceptance
By Pandora Poikilos

Some things were said about me today. I was told that I had no goals in life having accomplished so little with so many mistakes, I used my brain condition (IIH) to get away with everything in life and that I was lazy making life difficult and costly for others. I listened quietly for as much as I could and in the end exploded, "I'm not perfect but neither are you!" Interestingly enough this person's response was, "I know I am perfect".

This from the same person who some months ago put an egg in the microwave, washed her face with feminine wash because she 'forgot' to read the label and uses a doormat as the tablecloth for her coffee table. But yes, I am imperfect. I don't need to be told. And guess what, so is each and everyone of you reading this.

What bothered me the most about this scenario was that this person was incapable of realising her own faults. It was as though she lived in a house with no mirrors, she could not see who she was but was adamant in judging others.

I stress on acceptance, a lot. Love and acceptance go very much hand in hand. You cannot love someone if at first you do not accept them. If you think otherwise, you're due for a wake-up call. The combination of love and acceptance represents unconditional love. Everyone needs it, many crave for it and yet, only a few are able to offer it.

For years, I sort the acceptance of others. Like a wounded puppy roaming the streets, I went from stranger to stranger in the hopes of a kind word or a gentle pat, always coming away more wounded than I was before. When someone else accepts you, you become enriched and you are comforted in the knowledge that you have someone to lean on. Then, I learnt something else more powerful. Self-acceptance.

I learnt this lesson the hard way but in the best way possible - when I was left with nothing and no one but a few close friends. No distractions pulled me away from the face in the mirror, no one whispered sweet nothings in my ear. I saw a face in the mirror and I could do two things, accept it and revel or run and be delusional.

And so I am now even more certain - until every corner of my house is clean, every sheet washed and every piece of silver polished telling someone else they have a dirty window is probably a reflection of my own dirty habits.

I leave you with a quote from one my favourite authors of all time, Richard Bach.

We wait all these years to find someone who understands us, I thought, someone who accepts us as we are, someone with a wizard's power to melt stone to sunlight, who can bring us happiness in spite of trials, who can face our dragons in the night, who can transform us into the soul we choose to be. Just yesterday I found that magical Someone is the face we see in the mirror: It's us and our homemade masks.

Love and light, always.