A Reflection

As the day draws to a close, most evenings I find myself slowing down. I'm not generally as alert as I was earlier in the day, and I find myself struggling to focus, particularly in that time right before I head to bed. However, one thing that I do find myself doing with ease, (which could explain the lack of ability to focus on what I'm actually trying to do) is reflecting. That's when I spend my time thinking over what happened in the day, and what happened to me.

Society currently functions in such a manner that we're always pushing ourselves to our limits. It's always about how much you can accomplish, how many activities you can be involved in, and how busy you can be, because that, according to some unwritten law is how one is successful in the world. You're measured by the number of things you can juggle between, even if that means you get super stressed out in the process. It makes you look more impressive when you can be involved in several music activities, be taking some ungodly amount of classes, and still have time to volunteer 5 hours a week. However, when one is this involved, they often lack the time, and atmosphere to do really accurate reflecting on the past hour, day, week, or even month of what has happened to them.

The process of reflection generally involves just thinking things over.  A simple enough task in itself, not really with too many strings attached to it. In order to reflect effectively though, one needs to allow for a proper time interval that can allow one to process things. Processing is important in teaching, because people can memorize letters and numbers and words galore, but if they aren't comprehending what they're doing, then they're going to find it increasingly difficult to remember it when they need to. Reflecting brings out comprehension skills, which in turn strengthen critical thinking skills, which are vital to being a successful member of the workforce today. One of the best ways to confirm that you really know and understand material is to reflect on it, and just sit and ponder it.

On a more personal level, reflecting is not something that I typically leave enough time for. Though I am aware of this, I have not made a concious effort to change it. When I do allow myself the time to reflect, typically it is before I go to bed, or when I'm heading to bed, I will reflect on what happened to me that day. Sometimes I do it through writing, and sometimes I wish I was doing it through writing. I'm aware that writing or typing generally helps me reflect better, but that still does not mean I always do that. Like when I am studying, I reflect well in a calm peaceful environment, with perhaps some calm, classical music playing in the background, with nothing significant to distract me, as I am very easily distracted.

That's enough reflecting on reflection though..