How often do you make a mistake then try to move on as quickly as possible, forgetting it ever happened? When you have an anxiety attack, do you ever write about it or consider how you can prevent another? When you fail, do you continue forward blindly, hoping it won’t happen again?
Reflecting on mistakes, embarrassments, failures, and stressful moments is not easy, nor is it enjoyable. Reflection is, however, necessary if we want to be better.
When I experience pain in my life, my initial reaction is often to forget about it as quickly as possible and move on. What often happens when I do that is the pain occurs again in the future. The fear I felt comes back stronger, the mistake snowballs, the outburst becomes a weight in my stomach that leads to spite.
When I think and reflect on these things, I’m better equipped to handle it in the future. Since starting to journal each night and write these blogs, the reflection comes easily. I’m able to think about what happened, realize what I did wrong, hold myself accountable, consider what I could’ve done differently, find what led to the moment, and just fully break down the entire event.
I’ve found that when I reflect on the times I lost my patience, I’m able to catch it happening more quickly in the future then try new methods of managing it. When I view my mistakes objectively, I’m able to consider new techniques and figure out how to come back stronger.
If you never take the time to reflect, you leave too much up to chance. Stress could overwhelm you randomly, your temper can take the wheel at the slightest inconvenience, your habits will keep you making unhealthy choices – you make it way harder for yourself to be better.
So when life tests you, reflect on it. See what you can do to grow stronger, calmer, and smarter with each challenge.
July 29, 2022
