Introspection is observing oneself from an objective perspective. During introspection, you think about yourself – not in a selfish sense, but in a more profound sense. Introspection involves examining one’s own thoughts, feelings and sensations with an objective to gain insight.
Introspection is a wonderful trait and not many people have the time or desire for self-introspection. Our busy lives and preoccupied minds rarely provide us the time to introspect. In order to self-introspect, one must first quieten the mind and look inwards. Here are six wonderful ways to achieve happiness through self-reflection.
1. Life-Changing Decisions
Our fast paced lives hardly give us enough time to stop, think and make decisions. Decisions taken in haste will only make you repent later. People who are important to you in your life will have their own opinions about what you should do. It’s not a bad idea to ask for the opinions of people who matter to you. But, you should take their feedback, introspect about it and finally do what you think is best for you. That way, you will be completely responsible for your actions and don’t have to blame anyone else, if things go wrong. It’s your life, your decision and introspection is the solution. Ultimately, you’ll be happy that you have decided the course of your life.
2. See The Bigger Picture
Some things in life will unfold exactly as you desire. But, most things may not really happen according to our whims and fancies. Your future or your career is based on your decisions. Sometimes, events that occur may not be as per our expectations. Like the old saying, ‘Man proposes, God disposes’, we may plan something, but the events may turn out to be something else. But, we must understand that everything happens for a reason. When we introspect, we can see the big picture, which will teach us to be happy and be positive.
3. Beyond Your Control
Humans have become increasingly selfish and self-centered and want everything to go their way. When it doesn’t, we become disappointed and unhappy. But, that’s not how it’s meant to be. We do not have the remote control to control everything. We must learn to accept the way our lives unfold. And this trait can be acquired by introspection. When we look at things from a larger perspective, we’ll understand that certain things are beyond our control and it is better to go with the flow. This will not only make our lives easier, but will also make us happier individuals.
4. Eliminate Negativity
Selfish mentality often breeds negativity. We make more enemies than friends; we hate more than we love. The root cause for these negative thoughts is selfishness. We limit ourselves to our friends and family and we feel what happens to the rest of the world is not our problem. The truth is we can be happy only when we are selfless and consider everyone as our own. It’s fine if you don’t wish good for others, but at least don’t wish bad things to happen to others. This negative emotion is going to ruin our peace of mind and cause disharmony within us. Self-introspection can bring about positive thoughts and transform us into more caring and happier persons.
5. Health Perspective
This is a continuation of the previous point. Negativity adversely affects our health. Accumulation of negative thoughts ruins your peace of mind and causes emotional imbalance. Many diseases are associated with negativity. Our mental health is greatly influenced by our emotions and thoughts. Introspection helps us to visualize with clarity and understand reality. Self-reflection helps garner positive thoughts, which contribute to overall health and general well-being. Negativity only causes unhappiness and leads to diseases.
6. Overcome Fears
Life is full of challenges (we’ve heard that one before). Each person has their own set of problems and we must eventually deal with them. You can never anticipate everything that happens to you. This uncertainty scares the hell out of us. We may fear failure or rejection or a change. This fear makes us incapable of taking appropriate decisions to deal with the situation. Introspection allows us to delve deep into the cause of fear and helps overcome the emotion. Once we realize that not everything is under our control, we learn to let go and go with the flow.
All we have to do is sit down quietly and ask some rudimentary questions to ourselves. Meditation helps us to see the true meaning of life and what our role in this world is. Introspection teaches us that materialistic things are necessary for life, but they are not everything and they cannot bring happiness and health. If we understand our true purpose on this planet, we’ll become more loving, caring, and happy.
