When was the last time you wrote down something about your day? When was the last time you wrote down something that made you smile? Made you laugh? Made you cry? Besides writing down a grocery list or notes for class, when was the last time you took pen to paper to reflect on your day and most importantly, yourself?
For me, it was just a few days ago. I had just finished up my junior year of college and took some time to think back on all my accomplishments that year. I wrote about where I started back in August and finished with where I am now. I wrote about some of my most favorite memories and I even took the time to write down a few of the bad ones. Years from now when I open up my journal, I know that I’ll read over the times where I thought the world was ending and laugh at myself. I know this to be true, because it’s happened to me before. If I can share anything with you that I’ve learned by reflecting on my past experiences, it’s that things get better. You forget. You learn. You move on.
College is the time where you set the stones that will map out the steps you take in the years to come. You find what your passion is, what you want to put all of your energy into. You find your best friends and you fall in and out of love. It’s okay to change majors and it’s okay to take time off from school if you need it. Change the color of your hair every other week and you’ll eventually find what looks best on you. Go out every weekend to then soon realize you probably shouldn’t.
At any given moment in time, whenever something comes up, you classify it as either minor or major. You can continue on with your day like nothing happened or you can shut down completely and curl up into a ball. The importance of reflection is to remind yourself of your successes and your failures. We all make mistakes and we all learn from them and because of that, we are better people. We are wiser. We are stronger. We can also take what we’ve learned and help other people by sharing our experiences.
To read about your past mistakes and see how far you’ve come since then is a very humbling process. Better yet, when you read something about an accomplishment that you achieved a few months ago, even maybe a few years ago, you remember that time and remember how proud it made you feel. You relive happy moments and find closure with your failures.
Reflecting on your life is essential to development as humans. We all grow up and learn, it’s a natural part of living. Whether you like it or not, you are faced with life-changing decisions that you have to make. You become the sole driver of your life. You take turns. You go backwards. You may even stop for a moment or two.
But, close your eyes and think back to a time where you thought the world around you was tumbling down. Did you get through it?
