When you think of the word reflection, what first comes to your mind? Is it the face you see looking back at you when you look into a body of water? Is it what you see in the mirror every morning when you are getting ready for the day? Or is it a pensive state where you look back on what has happened to you in the last week, the last month, or the last year?
Funny how we have the same word for all of these things. I don’t know about you, but when I look in the mirror every morning while brushing my teeth and washing my face, I’m not necessarily in a pensive mood thinking about how my body has changed since I was a child. Maybe I’m thinking about that time I had dark red hair or when my face was covered in zits (yikes), but I’m usually thinking about the tasks of the day ahead, how I’m hungry, and where I’ll want to eat lunch.
In America, it seems like the big time to stop and reflect is on December 31st. We are gathered with friends and family, we get nostalgic, and we think of the past 365 days and how we want to change things over the next 365 days. This is also the time where we set goals or resolutions that we will most likely not keep up with past February…or maybe that’s just me.
I’m proposing a mindset shift here. Bear with me. What would happen if every Sunday we took a couple of minutes to reflect back on the past week? The good, the bad, what we are proud of, what we wish we could have handled better…all the good, bad, and the ugly. What if we picked one person a week to pray for, or texted someone just saying that we were thinking about them and hope they have a great week? What if at the beginning of every month, we made tiny little goals for ourselves. The goals could range from reading one book, going to a workout class once a week, eating in 3 nights a week, only have one soda a week, or only watching 2 hours of TV a day. The options are endless and can be however big or however small you want! *I find that the smaller goals are easier to accomplish because you don’t feel as overwhelmed taking them on.*
Furthermore, what if we started comparing where we are this year to where we were at this point last year, to five years ago, to ten years ago. Don’t forget how far you’ve come! Let’s learn to not only celebrate the little ones, but to really give grace and a pat on the back to where we’ve come over the last several years. Maybe your dreams have shifted. Maybe you’ve worked several jobs in order to get to the job that you are extremely passionate about. Maybe you’ve moved, fallen in love, or had kids. I don’t know where you are at in life, but I do know that you need to celebrate everything that you’ve been through! Give yourself grace for the mistakes you’ve made and extend forgiveness not only to others, but to yourself.
Reflection doesn’t just have to come once a year when we are wearing glitter and drinking champagne. I’m going to try my best to reflect every Sunday on the past week and for the week ahead. Maybe this will catch on, maybe it won’t. But I bet if you try this too, you’ll see your perspective switch. Reflection doesn’t have to be a scary word; we are in this together.
Kelsey is one of those people who will tell you that Texas is the best state and Nashville is the best city. She loves traveling, exploring, local coffee shops, and reading. Thankfully she has a job that allows her to do all of these things. She is fluent in sarcasm, wants to be Jess from New Girl, and above all wants to build other women up instead of tearing them down. All of her social media handles are @riotkelsey and she blogs over at riotkelsey.wordpress.com
