The Journey Inward - A Self Reflection

by Mrs. Linda Ginter, Sam Dan

Before you can start on any journey towards a goal, you have to first have traveled the journey inward - to your inner self - who you are as a person. What defines a person is their character, competence, desires, ambitions, and personality. Are you who you think you are? Are you who you want to be? Is the one person holding you back yourself?

Character - Are you loyal, honorable, trustworthy, & caring? To everyone, all of the time? No one wants to be associated with someone who is disloyal, dishonest, untrustworthy, uncaring, or unpersonable - even if it's only sometimes. People will always question your intentions, sincerity, or be hesitant about your motives. You can't make everyone like you, but you can give them a reason to respect you.

Competence - Do you strive to be the best you can be, do the best you can do, give an all-out effort with everything? Do you get back up after being knocked down, thinking of the setback as a stepping stone instead of a stumbling block? There is nothing wrong with admitting you don't know something or that you did something wrong, it is only wrong in not making it a point to find out or correcting the mistake. We tend to take credit for successes, and spread blame for failures. "Victory has a thousand fathers; defeat is an orphan" (Confuscius). With every challenge, we grow stronger.

Desires - Are your desires purposeful, or to please someone else? Do you have unrealistic expectations? Remind yourself of the value of the things you want. Are you willing to make sacrifices for the outcome you want? What do you want of yourself - today? Next week? Next year? A positive outlook is essential for any journey, inward or goal-oriented. There will be obstacles either way, so while dealing with them all in a positive way may be challenging at times, the potential for success is greater.

Ambition - Do you do things with a passion, or just enough effort to get it done, taking no pride? Are you self-motivated? Opportunity is everywhere - it's just a matter of whether or not you choose to pursue, seek it. You can't wait for things to fall in your lap, or someone to hand it to you. As the saying goes, anything worth having, is worth working for. Persistance needs to be one of your top attributes.

Personality - Is you personality "me, me, me"? Being self-centered, egotistical, or even "poor me" attitude does not make someone endearing to others. We need to look for the good in others, not the faults. Listen more than we talk. Treat others the way that we want to be treated. Speak with encouragement, not put-downs. Lend a hand without expecting something in return. It takes less energy and is more uplifting to be positive than it does to be negative. "Happiness doesn't depend on what's going on in your life, it depends on how you cope with what's going on in your life" (Laurie Cunningham, author).

What would you do if the bank gave you $1440, every day, with the only catch being that whatever part of the $1440 you didn't use each day, it was gone forever? We all would withdraw it and spend every penny. Well, there is such a bank - it's called Time. Each day we have 1440 minutes to do with whatever we want or need to do. Whatever we don't use productively is gone forever. Become the person you want to be. Within those 1440 minutes each day, we can all smile more, complain less, look ahead - not back, be more patient, be less critical, face our fears, turn our back on negativity. Positive changes in our life will not be finished today, but they can start today. Add meaning to your life by making a difference in someone else's.