Reflection Guide

 

Every so often, I pause to take stock of my life—turning over both the blessings that fill me with gratitude and the struggles that have shaped me.

These moments invite me to look inside myself, sort through my thoughts and feelings, and reflect on the choices I've made. By doing this, I find patterns and lessons that help me make better decisions and live more purposefully.

“Life can only be understood backward; but it must be lived forwards.”
― Søren Kierkegaard

There are seven reasons to reflect upon. For each, try these simple exercises to help deepen your practice:

• Review: Take time to think about your mistakes and learn from them. Exercise: At the end of each week, write in a journal one mistake you made and what you learned from it. For example: Holding on to an emotion that ended up hurting you instead of the body where it started.

• Rise: Find ideas and advice to help you move forward from where you are now. Exercise: Make a list of small actions you can take to improve your situation, then pick one to do this week.

• Relief: Look at your situation and find relief by asking for help or finding a way to fix it. Exercise: Think of something that has been bothering you, and talk to a friend or mentor for advice or support.
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• Recollection: Remember both happy and difficult memories and accept them. Exercise: Spend ten minutes quietly thinking about an important memory, and write about how it has affected you.
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• Remedies: Look at your current situation and think of ways to solve problems. Exercise: Choose a challenge you are facing, come up with three possible solutions, and try at least one.
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• Readdress: Accepting the past and making changes helps you address issues
  
  positively and build a strong foundation for the future. Exercise: Think about a past decision you regret, and write a letter to yourself about what you would do differently now.
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• Realization: Awareness is key to making progress in all parts of life. If you know your habits and actions, you can reflect on them and try to change for the better. Exercise: Keep a daily record of one habit you want to improve, noticing what causes it and how you react.

Mantra for today: Thinking about your life and accepting your present will help you move closer to success. 

To do this, spend a few moments at the end of each day writing down one thing you learned or noticed about yourself. This simple habit can make reflection a regular part of your path to success.

From Acting to Letting Go!

 

"R, can you please show the right emotions here?" my drama teacher asked in elementary school. She would clutch her papers in frustration while I laughed during a scene that needed me to be serious.

My acting was so bad that my confused look in the play gave the impression that I had a cold, and my nervous act made people laugh because they thought I was silly.

I ended up ruining the whole point of the play.

Even though I loved everything about Hollywood and Bollywood, I joined the drama club every year until I was a teenager. Because of my acting, I was always given small roles. Still, I didn't mind being on stage, even if I only had one word to say. Just being part of it made me happy.

As a teenager, I began to lose hope in acting because I struggled to convey my emotions effectively through my words when it mattered most.

It was hard to accept that my dream of becoming an actor was slipping away from me. Still, I kept practicing in front of the mirror for hours, hoping to get better, but nothing seemed to work.

While I spent all that time in front of the mirror, I noticed that trying to act out emotions brought up a lot of memories—happy, angry, worried, or anxious. Sometimes, just saying a word would bring back a flood of old feelings. Perhaps that's why, when I tried to study, my mind felt too full to absorb anything new.

It made me reflect on the amount of baggage I was carrying, especially at such a young age in my 20s. I was ambitious to pursue many goals, but clinging to past reflections would hinder my progress.

I realized that I needed to let go of my passion for acting, especially since, after many attempts, it had not yielded the desired results.

But it made me wonder: how many times should we keep trying before we decide to stop? I think if one goal starts getting in the way of others, it's okay to let it go.

Embrace your failure and move on!

This became my mantra.

Although it took years to let go, I am glad that my failure to become an actor made me realize that acting was one of the many goals I had to forget about.

As I stand here today, my gray hair filled with wisdom and memories, I feel content with the times I aimed to hit the ball into the net while pursuing many hobbies.

Some attempts resulted in goals, while many did not.

Acceptance has always been the key factor for me, guiding me through every setback and moving me forward.

Mantra for today: Failure is a stepping stone to success as long as we are aware of the setback and choose to act on it.

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This is pure fiction!
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Wordless Wednesday #85

Our body is a reflection of our thoughts
Our thoughts in turn nurture our soul.
Our soul is the window of how we tackle our present and future.

Fortunately, this flower blooming in my backyard says all the above!
Time to reflect on us!

Mantra for today: One Life, One Body, One Mind. They all so distinct, yet connected!