Time to Pause, Rewind and Reflect

As the year, month, week, day, hour draws to an end it’s an ideal time to take stock of what you have been doing, what you achieved, what you lost, who you found, what you learned, who you value, how you felt and still feel today. Now decide what aspects you will keep with you tomorrow, next week, for a few months, the year ahead and forever.

The value of taking time to review your experience shows how intricately our lives are entwined with people; family, friends, work colleagues and organisations.  It shows how just they affected you, your decisions and actions. Time shared creates a ripple effect and extends our sphere of influence beyond your conscious awareness.

The point of any review is not to navel gaze and over analyse you, others and situations. It’s the opportunity to learn and grow from it. By pausing to understand what can be changed, what was and is possible as an outcome creates a vision of making it better and instils. Hope stirred is the process of passionate creation in making dreams into reality.

So ask simple yet direct questions of yourself and give yourself factual answers. It’s important to acknowledge the emotion attached to the circumstances. This will reveal a depth of self awareness that will serve you positively so as not to judge so harshly. It will show how we are all most humbly still a work in progress and on the shared journey where the destination is still being mapped out. Nothing is set in stone and the fluidity in not knowing leaves us uncertain yet it positively gifts us the element of surprise, choice and child like wander.

As past decisions, actions and behaviour cannot be changed in the present the opportunity opens to accept things, yourself, people and situations the way it simply is….granted that you may not like it, choose it or wish it perhaps.  Just know that acceptance is liberating and brings peace. It serves to empower with and enlightened attitude and perspective. Your wise self understands that power is not embedded in the past, that simply the past offers useful experience.  It’s your inner knowing self that wisely guides you to let go and make space for creativity to blossom.

So take a few moments to reflect on your significant relationships, financial security, job satisfaction, work prospects, home, children friends, travel, and health and the inner you.

Even if you did not have clear goals or concrete plans the chances are you still had a pretty good idea of what you wanted to achieve and what would make you feel good. Your answers show what is possible, what can be changed and what inspires and challenges you to embrace the possible future.

The value of rewinding and reviewing plans, goals and ideas shows the progress; road blocks and detours experienced along the way. It gives an opportunity to learn again, celebrate gains again and respect the losses whilst trying to achieve them.

Goals like hope are aligned to our passionate belief in our causes, relationships, ideas and ambitions. This means we keep moving towards it. Emotion is motion. It drives us to dream again and makes the impossible possible.  Aspirations refuel our spirit and help us to prosper in the future.

A review also gives us a chance to appreciate what part we played in the orchestra of life, how we complimented, shared and supported others in their happiness and challenges. It’s the pause to acknowledge and honour the acts of kindness we gave and received in turn.

Think about those who enabled you to learn about yourself, others and the events. Who and what nourished our understanding which helps to guide us wisely today?

Our unique experience gives an invaluable insight in our growth and maturity in our thoughts, emotions and behaviour…we are not static beings. We are a sum of all we have known and experienced till this present moment.  Reflection reveals just how significant and magnificent we are to each other in life.

Posted on by Sonia Khera in Executive Coaching Services, Mentoring, Pinterest