“I’m starting with the man in the mirror.” Putting aside any opinions we might have of Michael Jackson as a person, Michael Jackson as an artist, wow! This song in particular get’s me every time I hear it. In the song “Man In The Mirror” Michael Jackson says:

“I’m starting with the man in the mirror.
I’m asking him to change his ways.
And no message could have been any clearer.
If you want to make the world a better place
take a look at yourself, and then make a change.”

What a concept! “If you want to make the world a better place take a look at yourself, and then make a change.” At 30 this makes a lot of sense to me but years ago taking a look at myself in the mirror was not so pleasant. I think getting to know ourselves and building a relationship with ourselves is hard, even taboo to some. So often we spread ourselves thin working to hold up this image we want other people to see of ourselves. Especially with Facebook, Instagram and Twitter. We spend a lot of time trying to “fix” everything around us but never in us. I read comments on social media all the time where people are just berating each other; that’s stupid, you’re horrible, you need to change, the world needs to change, etc. What about you though? What if we spent an equal amount of time getting to know the person we look at everyday in the mirror? What if we decided to take action and make the changes we want to see in the world starting with ourselves?

I recently watched this video of Jada Pinkett Smith talking to her daughter: Take care of YOU, first

Again, another fascinating concept, and similar to what Michael Jackson is saying. Jada say’s, “When you stop taking care of yourself you get out of balance and you really forget how to take care of others.” I believe “others” includes the world we live in as well. So what I gather from these two similar but also different messages is that when we stop and take a look at ourselves we CAN make a difference, we CAN make a change. It starts with us! The person we see in the mirror everyday.

If I want to see cleaner beaches then I need to clean up after myself. If I see garbage on the beach I’m not going to complain about it and walk away, I’m going to pick it up. Lead by example. Someone else is seeing what you’ve just done and it’s sparked some form of emotion in themselves, maybe next time they’ll do the same. If I hate that I’m overweight and unhealthy I’m not going to continue to eat unhealthy food, smoke, drink and get no sleep. I’m going to workout, eat better, quite smoking, limit and or quite drinking and get more rest. Lead by example. Healthy and happy is infectious, people generally want to be happy and healthy. If they see you doing this they will reach out for your help so that they can make a difference in their own lives.

As we fill our own cup and make changes in our life we will begin to make changes in other’s lives and in the world around us. We become the change! Instead of relying on others to fix the things that you don’t like or don’t want to see, do it yourself! Take care of you and you will be able to take care of others as well. Start with the man in the mirror. Get to know that person from the inside out. Decide what you need to be happy and what you need to see in the world that will make you happy and one baby step at a time, make that change.

What are some things you can do in your life right now that will make you a happier person? What are some things that you see in the world that make you sad or angry? What can you do to change those things?

Food for thought!

Best,
Jenna