It’s easy to take it for granted that you know yourself. After all, you’ve spent every waking (and sleeping) moment of your life with yourself, so surely there aren’t any surprises left or illusions you have about yourself, right? For many of us, the truth is that we act in ways that seem inconsistent with who we say or think we are. Words come from our mouths that make us wonder, “Where did that come from?” Without self-reflection, we are mysteries even to ourselves.
We are layered and complex beings. Sometimes we lie to ourselves about who we are; we have high hopes for ourselves, but we disappoint ourselves. We can try to motivate ourselves to act in certain ways but fail to gain traction because the motivation just doesn’t speak to us as much as we thought it would. All this points to the idea that we might not know ourselves as well as we think.
Self-reflection through journaling
Taking time out for self-reflection is crucial to developing your self-understanding. As you reflect, you can ponder over your actions, thoughts, reactions, and feelings to the things you encountered during your day or week. Ask yourself what challenged you, what inspired you, what puzzled you, or what stirred up powerful emotions such as fear or anger. Life gets busy, which means intentionality toward self-reflection is key.
As you self-reflect, you don’t necessarily have to do it with a journal. A journal is helpful because you can always go back and refer to it. It captures the moment in ways that your memory might not, which makes it a valuable tool. With journaling apps out there in addition to written journals, it’s easier than ever to set your thoughts and reflections to paper.
Taking the time to reflect through journaling offers numerous benefits, and these include the following:
Clarity
Taking the time to think through and attempt to organize your thoughts and feelings helps you to process and understand your emotions, gain clarity on thoughts, and identify patterns. You might do certain things unconsciously, but when you take time to reflect on them, you see the pattern. For example, you might see that after a fight with a loved one, you tend to go shopping to self-soothe.
Enhancing self-awareness
Taking the time to reflect on your experiences and emotions helps you to increase your self-awareness. Knowing yourself better includes a better and more realistic understanding of your strengths, weaknesses, goals, and aspirations.
Personal growth
Not only does journaling help you become self-aware, but it also helps pinpoint areas in need of improvement, helps you set goals, and tracks your progress toward those goals. In other words, journaling can provide accountability and focus as you pursue growth.
Nurtures mindfulness
Writing down your thoughts and feelings encourages a mindset of being alive and fully present in the moment.
A safe space
It’s not always easy to share what’s on your heart and mind with others. You may fear being misunderstood or causing offense. Journaling offers you a safe, confidential and non-judgmental outlet for you to express your emotions and explore your thoughts.
Developing writing and communication skills
Being intentional about committing your thoughts and feelings on paper can help you improve your writing skills. Over time, it could also help you communicate those thoughts and feelings to others.
Enhancing problem-solving
Another benefit of journaling is to explore problems and probe potential solutions. Having a space to clearly set out or articulate problems and possible solutions can improve critical thinking and problem-solving skills.
Supporting mental health
Expressing your thoughts and feelings in a healthy way through journaling can have many benefits for mental health, including reducing stress, anxiety, and the signs of depression. Journaling allows you to process emotions and gain perspective, which helps to alleviate some of these concerns.
Journaling also boosts mental health by fostering gratitude. Reflecting on positive experiences and blessings in your life cultivates a sense of gratitude that can help you become more resilient.
Next steps
Self-reflection provides us with opportunities for growth in our self-understanding. It’s not always pleasant to look back at the things we’ve seen, done, or experienced. However, understanding ourselves helps us to make sense of the decisions we make and the goals we pursue. It can save us from chasing after things we don’t truly want.
If you struggle with self-reflection but want the benefits that come with it, you can reach out and speak with a Christian counselor in Plano, Texas. Your counselor will walk with you as you reflect on your life and gain deeper insight into yourself. Get in touch with our office today at Plano Christian Counseling in Texas.
“Wildflowers”, Courtesy of Annie Spratt, Unsplash.com, CC0 License
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Jennifer Kooshian: AuthorJennifer Kooshian lives in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan with her husband of 32 years on a small homestead near Lake Superior. They have five adult children and one grandson. She also has an ever-changing number of chickens, a mellow old cat, and a...
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