MIRROR, MIRROR...

The exterior world and the people in your life are a wonderful, helpful and revealing reflection of all that you are. Regarding your exterior life as a mirror and looking upon it as objectively as you possibly can, (which is not always easy with an inherent Ego-mind beset by the thought of "I" and "me"... ) it can be effectively used on the road to self-discovery and self-knowledge of - as yet - unconscious aspects of the self. Especially the personally challenging moments, in which your instinctive reaction is irritation of some sort are most revealing. However, because the matter of contention is both present within your own self and in the exterior source, it is often all too easy to be caught in the trap of only spotting the faults in others and in your exterior circumstances without reversing the picture and going to look for it in your own self, too.
Those things which are causing an irritation in you are either aspects of your self, which you do not know about yourself yet or you do not want to acknowledge or be reminded of. If, on the other hand, you are truly at peace with yourself, life's circumstances and other people are no longer holding the power over your state of being. And if you are aware of your Lower Self throughout without being identified with it, you are recognizing the challenging situations in your life, which are pointing you towards still hidden aspects of your personality.