Estimated Processing: 15 minutes
I am starting with this post, towards a series of posts on how you, the reader, can most simply make yourself more self-reliant. "During the storm" refers to doing this now, as opposed to later, because our life might just get busier, and it will help us during our current troubles.
As discussed in my most recent post, "Why I train, Why I be! & just one guide in such reflection", there is no universal consensus on how we should be doing things or for what ethical/other reasons. There is no universal consensus in anything really, consider the ill, or maybe ignorant, or maybe both, but not necessarily, who think they actually are or believe in the flying spaghetti monster and not human. So my aim is to provide you with a base to allow for you to build upon with your own beliefs. My approval has no weight on what you actually do, but if it matters to you, so long as you are seeking to help others in non-imposing and unrequited (asking for nothing in return, no allegiance to anything physically or idealogically either) fashion and not infringe on others' rights to do the same, then I believe you are set up for doing the right direction - not necessarily doing well, or at all, for the intention is part of it, you may still harm others, you may still not do much at all because you still must follow through. Take everyone's advice with room for interpretation and to actually test it in your life, because you can always risk implementing it inappropriately, or have no need for it at all.
Everyone can benefit some from reflection, and we all do it. Even if you think you've never reflected, you have when you were learning new things. You had to decide which is better to do during the process, or not do. You may have thought about it after the fact. You may not reflect much anymore, responding quickly and emotionally to things that happen to you, letting lots of negative feelings fester. Maybe letting positive ones too. But if we simply react the way we first learned to do things, and don't bother to consider more deeply, we risk missing out on doing better on things which aren't such "common sense" to us (what even is common sense, what is common knowledge if there is no universal consensus on anything, is it just between most people in a certain societal context???). That is like taking a test for 2nd level biology when you've only taken 1st level biology and you decide to go by how you first feel about the answers. Some things require that deeper processing. The question is, what things require that? Does the amount of water you use/don't use when you get ready for your day one of those things to require deeper processing? It could if you are aware of the fact that we Americans use lots of water each day and there's only so much water in the world. But in that example, once we figure out how much we use or not, we can then keep doing that. That is habit. But what habits should we have right now, and what ones should we change or leave as they are, for the best effect on our lives and others' lives?
There are many questions to ask. And many things to choose to process or not, because processing these all alone takes much energy. But think if we all thought a bit more about these things, and the same important ecological and social things, maybe we could logically conclude alot more and get closer to some kind of universal consensus, leading to some better sense of peace amongst eachother!
Now, let's do some simple reflecting, where you can choose what to process or not, as well as apply it to yourself right away. To begin, I will simply ask you how you are changing your life for the better. What do you seek to do in this life? What are your motivations? Why are they any good at motivating you?
How do you plan on doing these things?
Are you struggling with doing these things? Why?
These questions are so simple but essential if you want to make the most out of your human time. But sometimes we need to focus on just a moment at a time, an hour, a day.
You can reflect on any time, time period, or context you desire. Change these variables, and you can change the reflection outcomes which you come to.
Right now, why are you reading this? How does it benefit you? What else could you be doing that could/could not benefit you? Now ask that a little more often, especially if you feel like you need to be doing more things that are for your benefit.
Finally, if you answered to yourself that you are struggling, I suggest you try this exercise which I used to do when feeling down, depressed or just lonely while I was in High School and while at my University. Start by getting a blank piece of paper and a pen, then write all the negative thoughts and things you could possibly come up with that pertain to yourself at that moment.
Tear it up.
Then, write all the positive things you could think about your life.
You will tear this positive list up, only after you write what you should do next - what you can actually start doing right now, not even what you can do tomorrow, but if it is something that might only avail the opportunity for a future time, then make note on your calendar, schedule or whatever system you utilize - to work on making yourself better. We can call this the "realistic" or "productive" list. Dwelling on the negative will get you no where as the positive may not either, but it will certainly motivate you more as you go along.
You are only able to do things right now, you can plan to do things later, but when later is now, you have the choice to do those things which you planned. They won't get done in the future unless you make the decisions that you can make right now and keep making them. Simple, but remember not to stress about the future unnecessarily. Be aware, not stressed.
Start with some momentum. Some enthusiasm can go a long way!
Enthusiastically,
Grant
