Today's
quotation:
Most
true happiness comes from one's inner life, from the
disposition of the mind and soul. Admittedly, a good inner
life
is difficult to achieve, especially in these trying times.
It
takes reflection and contemplation and self-discipline.
William L.
Shirer
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Today's
Meditation:
Reflection
is a concept that seems to frighten a lot of people. I
don't know why--are we afraid of what we might find if we
seriously consider our lives and the ways we live? Or
are we afraid of missing out on something that other people
are doing while we're spending time alone, reflecting?
What we don't realize is what we're missing out on when we don't
take the time to be alone and reflect, the growth and
maturing that result from going inside and examining who we
are, what we do, how we do it, and how we relate to the
world and other people.
If
we want to truly be at peace, and if we want to truly feel a
sense of balance in our lives, then reflection is absolutely
necessary. It allows us to sort through things that
have happened to us and the feelings that have resulted from
those things, and it allows us to accept and celebrate good
things in our lives while rejecting the things that aren't
so pleasant. When I spend time in reflection (running
helps me a lot with this), I'm able to come to grips with
some elements of my life that otherwise would still be
gnawing at me to deal with them, and I'd have a constant
feeling of having unfinished business that I need to deal
with.
Sometimes
we spend so much time on our outer lives that we don't allow
ourselves to have time for the inner lives that are so
important. When we do make time to reflect, we're
giving ourselves an opportunity to learn and to grow and to
decide upon actions we can take that will truly be
effective, and we also give ourselves the chance to consider
the possible outcomes of those actions so that we're not
surprised by things that occur later.
Don't
neglect your inner life, no matter how intimidating the
thought of reflection may be to you. Take or make the
time necessary to ponder what's going on in your life and in
your mind, without having a phone nearby that can interrupt
you. As Maya says below, you can call it a healing
time. And that's truly what it is, as you'll find out
for yourself.
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