The mirror shows your face. It doesn’t show the joke you made that saved someone’s bad day.

What you can see of yourself is the least interesting part of you. A reflection reports your skin, your hair and whatever you dislike this month, and knows nothing about the thing you said in third period that got somebody through an awful afternoon. Most of what makes people glad you exist is invisible to you and obvious to them. That is why auditing yourself in front of glass is so unreliable.

Keep a short list of times you helped somebody without planning to, and add to it when you notice one. On the days you cannot stand your own face, read the list instead of looking longer.