self reflection

Who are you running to and what are you running from? 

We must be careful not to fill our lives so full to the brim with activities and drama that we do not take time to pause and reflect. It is vital to periodically take time to stand outside ourselves, go to the mountain top, and play the role of observer. I am a firm believer in the importance of journaling to gain perspective, to improve our personal decision making and growing self-awareness. 

– How did we feel about the events of the day? 
– What emotions did we feel and why? 
– Where were the moments of happiness? 
– Where were the periods of contentment? 
– What brought us energy, what consumed energy?
– How did our thoughts and words impact our emotions? 
– What hidden programming from the past might be driving current behaviors?

Writing out a brief bio is an interesting exercise in self-awareness; likewise writing out a “Future Biography” i.e. how you would like the balance of your life to unfold. Creating a written self-concept is powerful, both as is and an aspirational one as well.

Closing Quotes

“We should every night call ourselves to an account: What infirmity have I mastered today? What passions opposed? What temptation resisted? What virtue acquired? Our vices will abort of themselves if they be brought every day to the shrift.” – Seneca the Younger; c. 4 BC – AD 65; Roman Stoic philosopher, statesman, dramatist

“There is no satisfaction that can compare with looking back across the years and finding you’ve grown in self-control, judgment, generosity, and unselfishness.” – Ella Wheeler Wilcox, 1850 –1919

“Look well into thyself; there is a source of strength which will always spring up if thou wilt always look there.” – Marcus Aurelius, 121 – 180 AD, Roman Emperor from 161 to 180. Last of the Five Good Emperors, important Stoic philosopher.

As always, I share what I most want/need to learn. – Nathan S. Collier