Have you ever been to one of those funhouses at the carnival? You know the one I mean, the one with the warped mirrors. When you walk through its maze you see refections of yourself everywhere you go. Sometimes, those reflections are funny, sometimes weird, sometimes just odd. You may see yourself in diminutive stature, or you may see a superhero reflected back. It doesn’t really matter what you see in those mirrors, because all of the images are distorted anyway.
But if you unbend the mirror. If you straighten it out into its proper form, you see your true self reflected back. You may look at that reflection and think, “My arms are too skinny,” or “My thighs are too fat.” But in that real reflection, you see truth. In that truth, what you discover is that nothing (and nobody) is perfect. There are great things reflected back at you - but the “bad” things are there too. You can’t escape them. That real reflection is what’s true.
The important question, when looking in that mirror is:
Does the man looking back at you try to do the right thing - even if, sometimes, he fails?
That is the true measure of a man. That is the true measure of self worth.