We know the feeling. Something happens that immediately causes us to react in some way. The reaction varies with each of us experiencing the occurrence. That happened to me recently, however this time I stopped to wonder why I was reacting the way I was.

I discovered I was Conditioned to Mirror.

To explain… Since childhood when we could begin to understand our personal World we have been conditioned in one way or another. This conditioning was imposed on us by others who were conditioned and those who were conditioned and so on and so on into the past.

Was the conditioning imposed with intention to cripple us? Most likely not but there was crippling intention mixed in there somewhere along the way injected by someone in past conditionings that have become a normalcy in life today.

But are the conditionings appropriate for the World today? That is the question we must ask ourselves and not attempt to get the answer from others. Our belief systems, after all, have been instilled since birth by covering our feelings which is the true way to measure a situation. It’s like this…

Someone you know makes some remark that causes you some discomfort. Conditioning dictates a response to counter that remark and also match or better the discomfort when the remark was made. This is the conditioning we accepted before we were able to actually discern the intent of other’s actions. We have been conditioned to mirror.

True freedom emerges when we realize the remarks of others really have no effect on us, on who we truly are. Someone calling you a piece of shit does not truly mean you are. Instead they are using conditioned behavior to trigger a response they wish to mirror to you that could actually mean they themselves feel like a worthless piece of crap. By attempting to put you down, they feel they are now ‘higher’ than you now allowing them to feel better about themselves even if it’s only for a short moment. This is why many people will continually talk others down in attempt to hang on to that feeling of being better than they actually allow themselves to be.

So the next time you are assailed by seemingly hurtful actions stop for just a moment, take a breath – really, take a nice long breath – and ask yourself if engaging in a ‘battle’ where no one wins is truly worth the energy. When your response is no response be aware how quickly the hurtful jabs will begin to subside until finally they will stop altogether.

You have lowered your mirror and stepped closer to true freedom.