Saturday Musings - Reflecting

I’ve really been wrestling with what to write about today for Saturday Musings. I love writing and normally I find that it just flows onto the page but today is different. I thought that I would take you on my journey for the past week and invite you to share about how you have tackled challenges in your life.

After returning from vacation I was immediately faced with a major personal issue to contend with in my extended family and this culminated in a family meeting. Typically, these issues would really drain me, and I would be struggling for several weeks while I emotionally and mentally came to grips with what was going on. This time was different.

As many readers know, for many years I’ve been sharing openly about my own personal life journey. In many respects, Saturday Musings has become a form of therapy as I write down my thoughts in at least a semi-coherent manner.

I’ve tried to share openly so that you can learn from my quest to becoming a better, more well-rounded individual; physically, mentally and spiritually. To me, life isn’t being the one to finish with the most money or toys.

Life is a journey of self-discovery about who you are and how you can constantly improve. Afterall, the most difficult thing you can do in the world is change yourself…..as you have absolutely no power whatsoever to change anyone else.

Along my own journey I’ve adopted a habit of deliberately spending time each day in reflection. This is a time where I really think about issues that are important in my life. Reflection sounds like such a passive activity, but the reality is that it’s the time where I really sort out personal issues, get inspirational insights and solve what are sometimes intractable problems.

This time is so valuable to me that I allow nothing else to intrude into my thinking other than the issues that are of greatest concern. No skype messages, emails, instant messages, phone calls, children or even wife interrupts me in my early morning time.

As I reflected upon my family situation, I found myself getting insights into the challenges facing siblings as parents age and how this can impact their interpersonal relationships. It was at this point that a most remarkable thing occurred, I found first understanding and then from understanding peace.

If you have ever had a difficult personal circumstance to contend with then you will relate to how trying they can be. Rather than taking weeks or months to wrestle with the issues, through the habit of reflection I’d pretty much sorted my emotions out in hours. Have all the problems been resolved? No but my emotions about them have and this is a welcome blessing.

Life is difficult and some of the most taxing situations often involves those we love. If we didn’t really love them then we wouldn’t feel like our emotions are on a roller coaster! This weekend I would encourage you to start putting aside some time for reflecting on your own life journey. Who knows where it may lead you.

Have a great weekend.
Michael