Amplify Blog - Reflection; Required
By QFCC Engagement Support Office, Rourke.
I believe we all need to look in the figurative mirror. For the betterment of ourselves and everyone we have around us including family, friends, colleagues, peers, or strangers.
It is so important to do some self-reflection. Not just in the surface-level thinking of reflection; I mean, deep and purposeful reflection. I believe many of us, if not all of us, can find ourselves being unaware of certain unhealthy behaviours or thoughts we may have and how this can impact us and those around us.
It is very easy to point fingers and criticise another on their shortcomings, but how often do we consider our own? I don’t mean to encourage to self-criticise, victimise ourselves or place blame on others for their potential negative impact on us, but to just reflect and see where improvement can be made. This journey is hard and confronting but so worthwhile and rewarding.
Life appears to value the fast, the easy, the readily available. But what if something so important cannot be attained with such ease as a cheeseburger in a drive-thru? We need to learn to not only be patient with others but show ourselves the same patience, if not more. The better we become as individuals, collectively the wider community will be shockingly extraordinary.
By becoming more aware of ourselves, our truth, who we are (without labels of profession, wealth, status, or desire for material objects), what lies underneath?
Who wouldn’t want to do this work when the benefits far outweigh not doing it? You can see improvement in relationships, a sense of ease within yourself and acceptance of who you are and no longer resisting what you do not acknowledge or accept, greater life satisfaction when you live in alignment with your values you discovered, less anxiety over the future and less regrets of the past, much more present in the moment and immense gratitude for who you are and what you have.
It can be eyebrow-raising to notice how many people can be horribly mean to each other and themselves. Add a steady stream of compassion to that recipe and the world will become a lot brighter.
Hypocrisy, accusations, contempt, bullying and violent conflict can spark, in the absence of compassion, and this can be life threatening. It is a serious issue. It isn’t fixed simply by saving an affirmation or inspirational quote as your wallpaper on your phone and not going any deeper.
Why not take on the challenge of holding a mirror to yourself and seeing what can be found in the depths of your truth as an individual? It’s exactly that, a challenge. There will be times of struggle, and that is when you pull together your support system and maybe a mental health professional to help you work through what is challenging.