I think it was a Tuesday, I can't be sure as the epiphany of that early morning encounter took me by total surprise. I guess it was a day like any other that preceded it,  with the buzzing of the alarm clock interrupting my sound sleep. Time to get up I thought, as I hit the snooze button still enveloped within the warm down filled blanket. Reluctantly I tossed off the covers and sat up,  turning slightly to put my feet on the floor I sat hunched over... head in my hands elbows on my knees I paused from my daily routine to dissipate that morning mental fog I seem to face with more regularity these days. OK, I muttered trying to encourage my middle aged body to move.. once again  thinking.... time to get up... I slowly stand, feeling that I'm getting old sensation in my knees as I stood. Then shuffling across the floor into the bathroom I head straight for the commode. The quiet of the morning silence is broken only when that familiar swoosh of the commode carries through the air. I moved over to the sink washed and dried my hands then looked into the mirror, and that's when it hit me.
    I stood motionless, with the remaining reminences of fog keeping me a little disoriented,  I tried to understand what I was seeing...  I stared uneasily at a reflection that seemed to be it's own entity...it's eyes looking upon me with an unknowing gaze....It felt like I was looking at a total stranger.... a wayward spirit that found its way to a portal that was my mirror....An eerie chill came over me. I slowly began to move my head from right to left the as the image mirrored my movements. Tentatively, I raised my hand towards the reflection, while the memories of every horror movie I've ever seen began to flood my psyche. An unfamiliar fear started to grip me while time itself seemed to slow...my hand even closer now...my heart beat quickens, I swallow with an audible gulp, my knowledge of everything else around me is nonexistent, no sound can be heard...I  move ever closer...then............I make contact........... Whew....I thought to myself as I let out a huge sigh of relief, cause in fact this was not a horror movie like my wild imagination would rather have you believe. No this was and exercise in ones own self reflection.
    What do you think of that person in the mirror?  I think everyone of us have asked this question at some point or another when gazing upon our on image no matter how fleeting the thought.      
      How does that person make you feel?   Do you smile when your eyes meet? I wish it was possible to see ourselves the way others see us....cause quite frankly we have an inward opinion of our own outward appearance. People say that beauty is in the eyes of the beholder, but is there an inner beauty as well?  Do the two have a mutual effect on one another? 
      What do you think of that person staring back at you?
Do you want to embrace it?  With all of the secrets, insecurities, fears and phobias shared between you,  are you proud of the person it has become?
       Me personally, I think of that scene in the movie Shawshank Redemption when Morgan Freeman's character speaks to the probation committee......he says I wish I could talk to him, show him the error of his ways....I think that is so profound.....What if you could go back in time and change a portion of our lives.....does this mean we are not happy or comfortable with the person we've become?  I think we all have things about us we wish we could change. As far as our outer selves the old adage diet and exercise might transform our phyicial forms, but what about our inner selves? Deep seated psychoses that effect not only our inner but outer image as well.
   What do you think of that person in the mirror?
 Do you get angry at the very sight of it?   Has it let you down time and time again?  Do you shed a tear on its behalf.   Do you blame it for all your financial hard ships, and poor decision making?    Do you look at the lines on its face etched by years of struggling and worry, by addictions and denials, or by forces out of your control......How many times have we wanted to shift the blame to that light refracted image....to say its all your fault......even I hate you.
   Do you want to tell it your proud of it?  Do you look at it like an old friend waiting to be embraced, to give it that high five or fist bump for a job well done?  Do you want to touch the glass as you look into its eyes and say thank you......
    It is said that we are the product of everyone we've ever met, with each individual no matter how close leaving their impression, shaping us like a sculpture would a piece of clay.
      "Should old acquaintance be forgot" We all know the song sung at the end of every year, but its meaning has always been vigorously debated. I believe it means to pause a minute and pay homage to all the people that you've ever encountered as futile as that may be,  because they all have left a small piece of themselves within your subconscious for better or for worst. 
    I guess in the end, its what we think of ourselves that shape every aspect of our lives, how we interact with one another, even how others see us.....Can you forgive yourself for past indiscretions...or do you carry them around like the chains labored by the famed ghost of Jacob Marley?
    What do you think of that person in the mirror?  Or better yet......What does that person think about you?
  
  (opinions may vary)