Benefits of Self Reflection
Self-reflection is a powerful tool for personal growth. It allows us to assess our experiences and learn from them. Without self-reflection, we are missing out on so many opportunities. it is a necessary process for us to stay humble in our lives, just like the bible teaches us.
Isaiah 2:17 “The arrogance of man will be brought low and human pride humbled.”
We do not know everything. I do not want to know everything. I have my “expert” subjects and my husband has his. We complement each other in that way because between the two of us (okay, mostly him), we know a lot -but still not everything. It is okay not to know everything. It is okay to be wrong. It is admirable to say, “I don’t know but let me figure it out.”
Earlier this year, my youngest son was sick. It didn’t present as anything crazy at first. A few days in he started to get a moving rash all over his body. Yes, moving. It would shift from his arms, to torso, to legs, or his face. Every few hours it was somewhere new. That paired with a 103* fever, prompted an ER visit on a Friday night. Bless the heart of the ER doc. She listened to his lungs “clear” and ran every test she could think of for viruses. Everything came back negative. She walked into our room, looked me in the eyes, and said “I’m going to be honest with you. I do not know what is going on. Everything is negative and wasn’t expecting that so now I am lost. I want to do one thing as a Hail Mary, and I have already called a Peds doc down. Let’s do an x-ray”. Thank the Lord for that Hail Mary, because my son had walking pneumonia, severe dehydration and tachycardia from the other two. He ended up being hospitalized for two nights on 3 different antibiotics. I remember talking to my husband after we got discharged from the hospital and telling him how much respect I had for that doctor for humbling herself and telling me, “I don’t know.”
Being humble shows people that we are willing to learn, we are willing to look at situations through different lenses and that we dropped our egos at the door.
Techniques for Effective Reflection
Here are few of my favorite ways to self-reflect. Each one has its own benefit.
- Journaling – I love to write out my feelings. It is very therapeutic for me to write down everything I need to but maybe can’t say. I can feel the heaviness, the darkness, the pressure of my thoughts lifts as I write. It’s a spiritual moment for me. You don’t even have to keep what you write. Have you ever burned your feelings and releasing them the universe?
- Being alone – There aren’t many times when I feel like I need to sit alone with my thoughts. I am currently in a season of life where I do this a lot though. Sitting in the heaviness of everything going on, everything that I played the majority role in starting gets to be too much, I feel compelled to sit in the depths of the pain and heartache. It allows my mind to look at the entire picture, through all the lenses, and safely release my emotions.
- Talking – I love this one the most. I have a couple people in my life that I can be completely open and honest to about everything going on. I hope you do too. Those people are magical souls. Talking out my feelings helps me to not only release them from my body, but I can hear myself saying everything back and I have gained so much insight to different problems when I can hear myself talk. I mean, isn’t this why people talk to themselves? It is for me. Also, I love getting devil’s advocate advice. Bring it on! Help me see something from another angle or another standpoint.
- Reading my Bible – Now, I will be honest. This one is a newer technique for me. I did not grow up in a house of faith and was never taught about the bible in anyway. So, I am learning, and I am trying, and that is okay.