Questions for Self-Reflection

The holiday season is a great time to stop and reconsider. The act of reconsidering often suggests there is a mistake involved  (e.g. “Before sticking that knife in the toaster I’d reconsider”), but in fact considering again –  “re-considering” – may cause us to re-capture enthusiasm for our most important goals because we re-connect with our “why”.

This holiday season will be like no other. In normal years, it is not uncommon to lose the opportunity for reflection amidst the parties, travel and company at your house (for a great riff on “company” coming to your house, check out this five minute comedy bit).

But this year may afford you a bit more time to re-consider.

I often find that prompts help me think, so I wanted to provide a few of them here. They aren’t unique, and you’ve probably heard them before. But there is value in re-hearing them so you can re-consider and maybe, during this season, re-energize.

• What would I do if I wasn’t afraid?
• Am I where I want to be?
• What (or who) drains energy from me?
• What (or who) gives me energy? How do I build more time with that activity or person in my life?
• How can I make someone’s life better in the next year?
• What is my community asking of me? How do I build time to give that?
• Pandemic bonus question: When my personal pandemic story is written, what skill will I say I learned or what habit will I say I deepened during this time?

The questions about what gives, or drains, your energy is a good question to repeatedly ask. As you grow older it is important to look for opportunities to shed relationships and activities – where you can – that drain your energy.

Etymology connection: For many, the holiday season is a religious holiday. The re- in religion means “again”, and ligio uses the same root as does our word ligament, meaning “to bind” or “to connect”. So “religion” is a process of re-connecting to something bigger than ourselves.

The prompts above aren’t about religion, but they can help you re-connect.

Good luck!