Is the guy in the glass my friend?

How is it that we pay thousands of dollars on books or seminars to tell us how pure our motivations are or how worthy the struggle for pelf is. Yet the greatest challenge we face is how we see ourselves at the end of the day. Or maybe we are so concerned with how life is treating us rather than how we are treating life. I came across a poem several years ago that I have stuck under the glass of my desk so it stares up at me as I am in my "struggle for pelf".

"The Guy in the Glass
by Dale Wimbrow, (c) 1934
When you get what you want in your struggle for pelf,
And the world makes you King for a day,
Then go to the mirror and look at yourself,
And see what that guy has to say.

For it isn't your Father, or Mother, or Wife,
Who judgment upon you must pass.
The feller whose verdict counts most in your life
Is the guy staring back from the glass.

He's the feller to please, never mind all the rest,
For he's with you clear up to the end,
And you've passed your most dangerous, difficult test
If the guy in the glass is your friend.

You may be like Jack Horner and "chisel" a plum,
And think you're a wonderful guy,
But the man in the glass says you're only a bum
If you can't look him straight in the eye.

You can fool the whole world down the pathway of years,
And get pats on the back as you pass,
But your final reward will be heartaches and tears
If you've cheated the guy in the glass."