Day 4 | The Gift of Reflection
How about if you could open up a gift that gave you clarity, fresh perspective, and a sense of capability?
Who wouldn't want that?
Well, here it is, it's the gift of reflection, and the hussle is we've just wrapped up something that you've already got.
Reflection isn't just a daydream or excuse to check out of what's going on for a bit.
It's a bonafide way of expanding your consciousness to help you get navigate life and get things done in an easier and clearer way.
One way of thinking about it is that we live in the equivalent of a glass lift, looking out at the world. Sometimes the lift seems to stick at ground level and we literally cannot see the wood for the trees.
If we could get the the lift to go up we'd be able to see the wood for what it was, the size of it, the density and we'd have a new and clear perspective on how to navigate it.
Reflection is one way of getting the lift to go up. When we reflect it's like we've taken our finger off of the 'doors open' button and the lift can go up.
As it happens we do it all the time without noticing; when we're walking the dog, making coffee, driving to work. It's like we've switched channel in our mind, or moved from staring hard to a more relaxed gaze to help us see more.
Once we've realised that's how it works it's effortless. We don't have to force our thinking to change, or even force ourselves to think differently. Reflection does that for us.
And if you're not sure how to reflect - there are lots of different ways, here's an experiment to run to help you get a feel for it...
Pick something you are passionate about (a hobby maybe)
- Make a list of what you know about it
- Then make a list of what you think about it
- Now make a list of what you're beginning to suspect about it
- Consider the differences between the output of the lists and how it felt to make each one.
For most people making the 3rd list is closest to reflection - it's expansive, light, and brings fresh or different perspectives.
Try it for yourself, we picked a hobby in the experiment to give you a fun thing to play with, but you could do this with anything. The key is to notice what it feels like to reflect so you can do it more easily.
NHP Advent Calendar 2024 | Seasoning
Every year we create an advent calendar intended to be an invitation, a springboard, seed, play thing for you to take seriously, reflect upon, discard as you wish. This years theme is seasoning...