The Red Cardinal

 I sit on the back porch a lot and watch the wildlife. On any given day, there is a red cardinal perched on my side mirror.  This bird in particular has my attention as it is so beautiful and distinguishable. However, he fights with himself in the side mirror daily.  Cardinals are territorial so he must believe he is fighting with another red cardinal that is invading his space.  It gets vicious.  Sometimes there is blood on my car.  

On a particular day, I was watching him in all his glory perched on the side mirror looking and feeling very proud of himself.  Then he bent over to look in the mirror.  When he stood upright again, he cocked his head to the side as if to say, "This bird is back in my territory again!"  He proceeded to fight with his reflection for a good period of time.  

 As humans, do the same thing.  We think we are fighting with other people or events.  But, in reality we are just fighting with ourselves.  Reflections of ourselves.  Everyone around us is a reflection.  The things we like and are drawn to in other people are things that we identify with, as they are within us as well.  The things we conflict and despise in others around us are things that we are insecure about ourselves.  I believe we are really fighting with ourselves, an image or reflections of ourselves.  

This realization can be very beneficial for personal growth.  Once you start paying attention to the people in your life and seeing them as reflections of yourself, you have an incredible opportunity to develop introspection and initiate change if desired.  We attract who we are.  How exactly can we learn from and use this knowledge? First you need to be able to operate outside of your ego and be totally honest with yourself. 

Questions to ask yourself about people in your life that you have conflict with:

1. What is it that I don't like about this person or the actions of this person?

2. WHY don't I like this or this person?

3. Is there something about this person that I can identify with, within myself?

4. Why is this person here, in my life? What are they trying to teach me about myself?

5. Are there several people in my life like this, with a recurring "theme"?

6. Am I okay with fighting with my own reflection for the rest of my life, never resolving anything or do I want to do the work to change and correct habits that no longer serve me?

Questions to ask yourself about situations in your life:

1. Is this a recurring problem? 

2. Am I doing something that is causing/allowing this to happen?

3. How can I remedy the situation and do things differently so the likelihood of it happening again is slim?

4. Am I okay with living like this or am I ready to change?

Are you ready to stop fighting with yourself in order to learn and grow?  If so, using this concept that everyone and everything is just a reflection of yourself to aid you in this life can be a very beneficial starting point.  

Thank you for reading, I'd love to hear from you.  Good vibes...