What Is Your Mirror Reflecting Back To You?

“The first step toward being loved is learning to love what you see when you look in the mirror.”
– Tadahiko Nagao

I love short stories with thought-provoking messages. Here’s a Japanese folktale about 1000 mirrors and two dogs.

Long ago in a small, far away village, there was place known as the House of 1000 Mirrors. A small, happy little dog learned of this place and decided to visit. When he arrived, he bounced happily up the stairs to the doorway of the house. He looked through the doorway with his ears lifted high and his tail wagging as fast as it could.

To his great surprise, he found himself staring at 1000 other happy little dogs with their tails wagging just as fast as his. He smiled a great smile, and was answered with 1000 great smiles just as warm and friendly. As he left the House, he thought to himself, “This is a wonderful place. I will come back and visit it often.”

In this same village, another little dog, who was not quite as happy as the first one, decided to visit the house. He slowly climbed the stairs and hung his head low as he looked into the door. When he saw the 1000 unfriendly looking dogs staring back at him, he growled at them and was horrified to see 1000 little dogs growling back at him. As he left, he thought to himself, “That is a horrible place, and I will never go back there again.”

All the faces in the world are mirrors. The way we see ourselves, our thoughts, are the images and behaviors we project out into the world.

So if we believe and think that we are surrounded by love and that our lives are full and rich, then that is what our lives will become – a mirror of our inner experience.

Daily Prompt