Time to reflect

I’ve never believed in New Year’s resolutions but I do believe in time to reflect upon where we’re at in life. Scurrying along in life blindly rarely leads to effective outcomes. Rather, taking time to reflect on whether we are happy and in the right place can help us to refocus and put ourselves back on the ‘right track’ so to speak.

I liken it to swimming lengths in a pool. We need to life our heads out of the water every now and then to make sure we are going to reach the end of the pool at approximately the right place. Swimming sideways wouldn’t be very useful. The same is relevant in life.

Are you happy with your life? Are you living a life that is mostly true to yourself or are you at least working towards it?

Fear stops us from making decisions but procrastination can lead to longer term misery and frustration. We all need goals, some short term and some long term so help us move forward. Goals helps add structure to life and can give us a sense of meaning and purpose – two of the essential ingredients for contentment.

Questions to ask yourself:

Do I wake up happy most mornings? If you don’t or wake up with a feeling of dread something is out of kilter, this may be a clue that your day is filled with things you don’t enjoy doing…explore this further.
Am I getting most of my needs met in my relationship?
Is there more positive than negative energy filling my life? Positive energy are the things in life that inspire you and make you feel energised. Negative energy comes from things that drain you physically and emotionally – people or situations or work etc.
If you are able to pinpoint the source of your unhappiness, ask yourself if you can do anything to change it. Is this something within your control or not? If you cannot control it, find a way to accept and/or let it go. If it is something you have control over, create steps to begin the change process.

Living your best possible life can be achieved more easily by taking time to reflect. I highly recommend it.

Mandy X

Author: Mandy Kloppers

Mandy is a qualified therapist who treats depression, anxiety, OCD, PTSD, trauma, and many other types of mental health issues. She provides online therapy around the world for those needing support and also provides relationship counselling.