The Mirror

So often, it seems that the very thing
I find intolerable in another is a trait
or habit I am guilty of myself.

But I am blind to my being guilty.

I have another in my life, causing
'distress'  and discord, until I learn
the lesson I have before me; to
see how I am responsible for causing
these same distortions for others when
I act similarly.

Yet what I judge in others, I can
justify in myself. Only when I am
willing to admit that I am flawed,
rather than seeking to point out the
perceived faults of another, can
true change take place.

We are held up a mirror to ourselves
so that finally we can truly see.
Whether we are brave enough to
look unflinchingly is up to us.

Do we awaken fully, or roll over and
go back to sleep?