“The importance of mentally recharging is something that is also of great importance.” Those words are by Helen Lee Schifter. Truer words could hardly be spoken, especially with these hard times. It’s times like these when having a positive outlook really helps. Or at least to keep mental health intact. It’s really easy to slip into a bad mental state with everything going on. Seeing all the unfortunate events happening around the world on the news, it makes staying positive, quite difficult.
One of the best ways to keep up mental health is to have time for self reflection. The more often the better. When people don’t take the time to do self reflection, it often leads to them crashing and burning. They don’t take the time to just stop. Most of the world is in constant motion in this day and age. Even with all that’s going on, people still are finding ways to make the world move on.
People need to take the time to stop and reflect on things, before continuing on their path. Not reflecting is like walking blindly down a path and hoping to make it to the end. If one takes the time to reflect, they can notice all the obstacles in the way and get to their destination more smoothly.
Getting into the habit of daily self reflection is great to start. One way to reflect, is to write down what is being reflected. Whether it’s in a journal or on a blog. Meditating is also a good method, and a relaxing one at that. There is also taking a moment to recall the day, whether it’s the full day or part of the day. Another one is to, either after waking up or right before bed, take a little time to write down and think about all the thoughts going through the mind. It helps to release stress about any particular thing for the day, or when attempting to go to bed. Helen Lee Schifter likes having tea ceremonies.
There are many things to reflect on when practicing self reflection. Having some reference questions can really help to get through the process, especially when stuck. Think of areas in one’s personal life, and possibly rate it based off of personal opinions, is one way to go about it. Thinking of things in life that are working, and not working, is a really great method to improve things. Determining what is wanted more of, as well as less of, is a great way to improve daily life. Thinking of accomplishments, successes, hopes, goals, wants, needs, and even gratitude are some really good reflections. Especially thinking of possible ways, and actions, to improve life.
Self reflection is important, because it improves many areas of a person’s life. It improves self awareness, helps with perspective, gives time to respond and not react, gives deeper learning, improves confidence, and it even challenges assumptions. With practice, daily self reflection will vastly improve quality of life.
