Do You Have Time For Reflection?

I think the world would be a better place if more people were able to allocate more time to the ancient art of reflection.

In my mind, there are few things that seem as conducive to a happy, valuable and prosperous existence as the mindset that, when it can, seeks time to try to understand itself, it’s experiences, it’s desires, and those of others.

It’s the mindset that is inquisitive, that is always trying to understand, that is always open to learning, that is always seeking an opportunity to adapt or improve the way it does things by knowing a thing or a person or a circumstance or oneself in some new level of depth.

Because it would appear that it’s through this type of mind that so much other good flows. For to grow and improve at anything we do as humans, reflection is required, analysis is vital, understanding is mandatory. So that mind that always inquires sincerely, must always expand. Our experience of life and of good must be enhanced by our willingness and capacity to explore them.

It might seem like fluffy theory but it’s easy to discuss real examples of the reflective mind in action.

Maybe you had an argument with someone. Did you go back later and ask “Why did I say that particular thing? What was I really feeling that maybe I couldn’t say? Would the outcome have been different if I had said something different? Is there something I could do differently in that situation next time?”

Or something even simpler…

Maybe you feel a bit “off” in your day to day life sometimes. Do you ever stop and ask “I wonder why I’m feeling this way? Is there something I value in my life that isn’t being fulfilled? What is it that I really value? Is this what I want to be doing with my life?”

Or conversely…

Maybe you had a big success and you’re feeling on top of the world. Do you ever stop, delve into your joy, and ask “Why am I enjoying this? Could I be feeling the same thing in another way? How can I put more of this feeling into my life?”

Maybe those questions are my own projection and aren’t relevant to you at all, but the questions and answers themselves are irrelevant, it’s the matter of asking the questions  (and sometimes acting on them) that’s important.

And maybe it’s not even questions, maybe it’s just statements. Particularly for positive experiences.

Maybe it’s just stopping to really think through how special a certain experience was, how much you valued a certain moment, just to drown yourself in the gratitude for a particular thing… that’s reflection too.

But I don’t know if we get enough time for it.

The world moves so fast, there aren’t enough hours in the day, we’re inundated with information, and stimulus, and things that want our attention… and all those other 21st century cliches… that to sit, (heaven forbid) do nothing, and think, is the last thing on our to do list. The benefits from it are intangible, they can’t be quantified, we can’t show them to anyone. Yet without new thoughts, new ideas, deeper understanding, better connection to ourselves, where are we?

If only we could fit it in…

Imagine more people taking time trying to understand why they upset someone… More people thinking about why another person did what they did… More people trying to see other people’s perspectives… More people taking time to fully appreciate the beauty and joy in their lives… More people with time to understand why their idea isn’t working out, their relationship isn’t as happy as it was, or their business isn’t moving forward as they’d like.

I can’t speak for everyone, but it’s a world I’d like to live in.