Irritation and Mirrors as a Tool for Growth

One of the greatest learning tools here on Earth, in the experience of duality is the mirror effect. Yes, our thoughts and emotions create our own specific reality. Even our subconscious is made visible for experience through our reality. It's quite fascinating if one gives in to it and takes this premise as a tool for further growth in consciousness.

The most brilliant tool can be found when we begin to interact, or land in situations that irk us to no end. These irritation moments happen when we have not quite seen ourselves to have certain traits, known or unknown. We see and heavily judge events, exchanges between people or situations. They have an impact on us emotionally that we cannot deny. Usually we simply get angered. This moment of irk-dom is a prime occasion for growth. To let it pass seems to be a sad choice, but it's allowed. Frankly, in my experience, when I do let such a moment pass without looking closer at the actual weave of the pattern, I find myself confronted with it soon after, just to a greater extent or with a more intense impact on my system. It's like "I haven't listened, now I'm being shouted at until I hear."

Here's my findings on how these mirroring moments happen and what to do with them.
There are more than one way, the mirror effect is active:

a)  The most simple one of them is that I am doing or believing something I am not aware of and I subconsciously don't accept within me nor within anyone else. There is judgment. Another person is behaving that way and it irritates me greatly until I realize that I too have that trait that is so despicable.

b) Another one is that I encounter a situation that irritates me greatly and it is a behavior that I would NEVER EVER do. I have such strong self-judgment within that I would not even dream of doing whatever it is the person whose behavior irritates me so is doing. This is the complete denial that I would be at least capable of doing it. The mirror shows me that I too am at least capable of this behavior, since I am human after all.

c) A third possibility exists when we create a point of mirroring artificially, by judging a situation to be something it is not or only partially, but it has to have similarities that trigger us to create the mirror point. This is achieved by projecting our own blind spot onto a situation that seems to be that which we project on it and with the projections turns into it for us. This is possibly a more intricate and perhaps a rather confusing situation, for anyone looking at it from the outside would not even be seeing the thing the irritated person is projecting onto it. It serves however the same purpose as that which I described in point a).

In all cases of experiencing irritation at something, someone on the outside, it is enough to make us pause. It should make us pause long enough to look at the reflection of what we are experiencing. That way, we become aware of  our tendencies, or even our judgment of slumbering (unconscious) tendencies and have an opportunity to fully accept that we are no better (and no worse) than the person who has with their behavior (or our projection of a behavior) mirrored this point to us. The irritation will cease immediately and we know that we have grown in awareness of who we are, as well as in our capacity for compassion towards ourselves and others.

Needless to say, mirror-bashing, the activity of attacking that which is being shown to us by further (loud) denial and judgment of the very thing we need to embrace is counter-productive and only prolongs our journey towards growth. It's allowed, but seldom carries a positive reward, for in the end, we will go through repeat performances of our mirrors that are around us all the time. Truly, the only efficient way to lasting peace within would be to embrace each and every mirror with a sense of joy, gratitude and sometimes perhaps gritted teeth, but the act of surrender to the inevitable and embracing of the issues denied is advisable.