Self-Reflection is the stepping stone to improving as an individual. Therefore, through understanding and being humble with oneself, one obtains Inner Peace and the resilience to get through hard times.
You feel relief when you hear about cultivating inner peace. Inner Peace, yeah that sounds real nice; I want that. The truth is this: Life can become pretty damn stressful at times and sometimes the only thing you want is to sit by the beach on a sunny day, letting the cool breeze running over your skin and sipping one of those tropical drinks with the little umbrella in it.
Well, you don’t need to be chilling on the beach in order to achieve inner peace (it would be a pretty nice experience, no doubt) In fact, Nature can be a great option to get Inner Peace, and it works wonderfully.
However, that is not the secret discipline to cultivate Inner Peace as I mention in my title. Then what is it?! Get to the point! you might be thinking. Please, before we get to that, I’m here to tell you that inner peace is, in theory, easy to obtain; if you are willing to give in enough effort to it.
Obstacles to Inner Peace
You might resonate with the following problems:
- You feel anxious. Everything seems out of place, you become paranoid, you feel uneasy, worried, edgy, and so on. The world is against you!
- Overthinking. Why can’t I focus! You think too much to the point of having your mind and your thoughts entangled.
- Negative thoughts. Overthinking eventually leads to negative thoughts. Combine those two components and you have a recipe for emotional disaster.
- Too many problems. Your relationships, your finance, your job, your hobbies; everything doesn’t seem to go well! You want a break!
- You are a disaster within. Depression kicks in and the answer might seem to take a hedonistic approach; indulging in compulsive behavior and compulsive activities, like excessive masturbation or phone checking all the time.
All of these are symptoms of a root problem: an inability to make the best use of your time in solitude.
Yeah, I hear you. We are too preoccupied with other “more important” aspects of life and guilty of using our spare time zapping through Netflix while sitting on the couch. After all, it’s so effortless and easy. Or maybe we prefer to catch up with our old bro from high school to get drunk and get laid; maybe simply being on the phone is more enjoyable…
When we weaken, we turn to distractions to numb our pain.
It was the same case with me; in my early years, I used to be so anxious all the time. Rigid, scared, easily targeted by bullies; being immature and endlessly consuming self-help videos on YouTube helped me only on the surface. I developed artificial confidence, which now that I look at it, was arrogance.
Nowadays I remember those as reminders of the mistakes I made.
Then, through constant trial and error, I’ve understood the fundamental discipline to find inner peace. Are you ready? Drum roll, please…
*Drum roll*
SELF REFLECTION
Getting introspective and taking a deep, honest non-judgemental view into your problems; is the best way to grow as a human being. It means sitting in a quiet place with no other person but yourself and take on your inner demons. Self-reflection is the way in dealing with the deepest insecurities and finding the best way to grow; so, in a weird way, self-reflection is what cures any internal problem in your life.
Having inner peace is a cornerstone of my writing. You have to be at peace in order to be more productive in your job, not being overtaken by external factors, to build better relationships with people; and of course, to be a better person. Self-Reflection breeds Inner Peace.
So, with this in mind, let’s dive into the topic, shall we?
What is to Self Reflect
To self-reflect is to make use of your solitude, without distractions (no people, no music, no phone) in a way that you contemplate with total honesty and humility the positive and negative aspects of your Self. Taking into consideration your regrets, your weaknesses, your repressed emotions, and so on; it is to practice being most vulnerable and accepting the flaws and errors in your Self.
To Self-Reflect is to know that we are not perfect; in any way, shape, or form, there will be something which we struggle with. It is in the acceptance of that fact, how one obtains inner peace. Since you’ve come to peace with your weaknesses, there will be NO stress factors in the external world.
Through Self-Reflection, you come to understand that there are no external factors that will hurt you; it is your emotions that put the positive or negative labels on the perceived situation.
EXAMPLES OF SELF REFLECTION
Apart from the aforementioned method of sitting in a quiet place, these are some other ways to get introspective:
- Journaling. Writing down your thoughts and feelings in paper is an effective way to declutter your mind and get a clearer perspective on your state.
- Ask ‘Why?’. Why am I feeling this certain way; get to the root of your problems. Sometimes the simple exercise of asking yourself ‘Why’ can be very effective.
- Do not blame external factors for your misfortune. If you’ve tried countless times to start a business, and every single one of those businesses didn’t seem to work; the problem isn’t that your strategy isn’t working or anything, nine times out of ten it’s an internal problem. Address it.
- Talk to someone of trust. Sometimes you have to redirect your energy to someone else; they can give you a perspective you might’ve never come up with. Their understanding of your emotions not only is an exercise in opening up but also deepens your connection with the person.
What is NOT to Self Reflect
Alright, so now you’ve set yourself in a comfortable spot, you’ve brought a cup of coffee with you, and are ready to get introspective and gain wisdom! But something reminded you of that time when you were hanging out with your friends when the fatty tripped and fell on his own chocolate ice cream– Concentrate! Nah. Concentration? Inner Peace? What is this, get the hell outta here!
Have a purpose when you get to be really introspective.
Another mistake is to be like: “Alright, I’m too busy all day cleaning the house or doing the laundry; I’ll give it a try before bed.” Then you get to it. The process is going great at the start, you are diving pretty deep, then a little deeper, get to the juicy memories… Okay, I’m going to forgive myself for every–
OOF! You fell asleep!
The next morning you wake up and be like “Damnit!” and to top things up; you forgot everything.
No progress, no meaning; just random thinking. Or maybe you just simply forgot. Or both.
Self-Reflection breeds Inner Peace
So we learned that Self-Reflection is a pretty useful tool to get into the root of our very problems; also it is the stepping stone to improving as an individual.
Therefore, through understanding and being humble with oneself, one obtains Inner Peace and the resilience to get through hard tasks. When nothing seems to go as you think; take a moment, isolate yourself, and connect with your thoughts and emotions, because there isn’t anything else in the world; no blog, no YouTube channel, no other person in your life that will enable you to get stronger and smarter, than you.
