When you get what you want in your struggle for self
And the world makes you king for a day
Just go to the mirror and look at yourself
And see what that man has to say.

For it isn’t your father, or mother, or wife
Whose judgment upon you must pass
The fellow whose verdict counts most in your life
Is the one staring back from the glass.

He’s the fellow to please – never mind all the rest
For he’s with you, clear to the end
And you’ve passed your most difficult, dangerous test
If the man in the glass is your friend.

You may fool the whole world down the pathway of years
And get pats on the back as you pass
But your final reward will be heartache and tears
If you’ve cheated the man in the glass

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I have this poem attached to my bathroom mirror. It’s by a guy named Dale Wimbrow.

It captures a defining lesson of every person’s life. You, and you alone, are with you always. When you compromise your values, you will always know. You can suppress it, hide it, crowd it out, but at the deathbed, the knowledge will remain.

Every person on the planet may praise you as a saint and if you slimed your way to the top, you will hate yourself. Your lie will poison all the glamour you could have enjoyed. If you live as a fraud, you will feel like a fraud.

You can try as hard as you like. You will never escape yourself.