Introspection

June 4, 2018

MANIFESTING MARIA: “Manifesting Self-Reflection”

“Self-reflection is the capacity to exercise introspection and the willingness of humans to examine their fundamental nature, conscious thoughts and feelings, in order to learn more about their purpose and soul essence. It causes us to ask ourselves who we are, why we are, who we want to be and how we can be better.”

~Maria Palmeri

 

I don’t know about you, but just “being” isn’t enough for me. One of my core values is intentional growth. I have to strive to be my best and true self. To grow, to learn, to evolve, to have pride of character and to touch the lives of others and inspire them to the same. Don’t get me wrong, I won’t always be my best self, I make mistakes. I’m no spiritual snob… but I am always trying to understand myself and my motives so that I can try to manifest my best self and true desires. To do that, I always have to be conscious of who I am and what I’m reflecting.

I was talking with a friend the other day and we were commiserating about “Why are we on this quest of inner healing?” Why are we moved to emotionally twist ourselves up and chase down our demons to be our best selves when we can look around and clearly see that others seem to be comfortable walking around and interacting as their (for lack of a better word) “shitty-shit” selves?!

“Knowing others is intelligence; knowing yourself is true wisdom. Mastering others is strength; mastering yourself is true power. ”

~Lao Tzu

It occurred to me that not everyone has self-reflection skills. Self-reflection is the capacity to exercise introspection and the willingness of humans to examine their fundamental nature, conscious thoughts and feelings, in order to learn more about their purpose and soul essence. It causes us to ask ourselves who we are, why we are, who we want to be and how we can be better.

Why is introspection so important?

It’s easy to get distracted by life, moving from one moment to the next. Too busy doing, reacting, blaming and ultimately delaying the critical thinking necessary to constructively examine our lives. By enhancing our ability to understand ourselves and our motivations, we bring our focus back from outside diversions to ourselves and inner self-growth. Self-reflection is the key to real and lasting, positive self-transformation and personal growth.

We have over 50,000 thoughts per day, over half of which are negative and over 90% of which are just repeats from the day before. Many people get stuck in the cycle of blaming their feelings of failure, unworthiness, or unhappiness on others, while remaining blind to what they do to create and re-create their circumstances. Without awareness, we can change behaviors but we will not manifest the real and lasting transformation that we desire.

“An unexamined life is not worth living.”

~Plato

If we can become experts in self, we can change our wasteful or negative thought patterns into positive, self-transformational thought patterns that benefit our lives, progeny and the collective community.

Resources on self-reflection practice:

87 Self-Reflection Questions:

https://positivepsychologyprogram.com/introspection-self-reflection/#references

The Lost Art of Introspection:

http://expertenough.com/2990/the-lost-art-of-introspection-why-you-must-master-yourself

Do you utilize self-reflection? How has it benefited your life?

Love, Maria

 

 

~via ManifestingMaria.com

May 13, 2016

KATE RAE: “10 Things to Understand Before You Fall In Love With An Old Soul”

And then there are very old souls, such as myself, who aren’t even impressed by their own Twin Flame… as in… “Whatever, I’ll see you on the other side.”… : D

10 Things to Understand Before You Fall In Love With An Old Soul

  1. Simplicity. It’s the simple things in life that capture us. Simple living and simple pleasures in life ground us and make us feel all warm and cozy inside. Extravagant dinners, jewelry, and sparkly gifts may be the key to some people’s hearts but not an old soul.
  2. Impressing us is so simple, it’s scary. An intimate conversation on the beach with a candle or a night of camping under the stars is like heaven on earth. Give us experiences and most of all, give us your time.
  3. Alone time. Old souls are pretty intense, spiritual people. It’s not a facade or front we put up, but a lifestyle we live to stay connected to ourselves and to our spiritual path. Time to decompress, detach and meditate are crucial to our well being. So if we turn down an invite to a bar once in awhile, don’t take it personal. Instead, understand our need to be with ourselves because there is probably a reason we are needing some alone time.
  4. Dreamer. As most people only dream when they sleep, we dream constantly. Daydream that is. Sometimes we need a partner to snap us back into reality, but also one who understands our dreaming is what excites us, dreaming inspires us.
  5. Romantics. –ahh, sigh– We love romance and everything that comes with it. Sometimes, expecting a little too much from people trying to win our affections. This can cause some let downs and learning experiences for both partners. Old souls need someone that can pull them out from the clouds when needed and bring them back to a beautiful reality.
  6. Comfort. I’ve always felt like the “grandma” of my friend group. Throwing on a big comfy sweater, staying in to cook dinner, and snuggling up while someone reads to me would be like, so amazing. Going out is good here and there, but know for us, being comfy with our significant other takes the cake.
  7. Free bird. We want freedom. Freedom to chase whatever is worth chasing to us. Nothing holding us back or stopping us from pursuing our dreams and desires. Rather, someone who encourages us to chase and to succeed. Aside from longing for a stable and simple life, we want room to grow and follow whatever path our spirit is leading us on.
  8. An unusual approach to life. Not really conforming to the expected way of living, we view the world and our lives as a blank book and we want to write it. I definitely have very philosophical views and it deeply effects all of my relationships. Being with someone who likes that about us is key!
  9. Not-so material world. Possessions and money are nice, but it is not number one for us. Intellectual conversations and meaningful experiences is what takes our breath away…
  10. Intuition. You may hear this a lot from an old soul, “I don’t know, I just have this feeling.” Following our hearts more than our minds makes us a bit more in touch with our intuitive side. You can either go with the flow or turn and run, intuitive people can be a bit intimidating. It can be very daunting to some, to have an intuitive partner…especially if the significant other is trying to be sly. Good luck!

We’ve got dreams, big dreams. Idealistic dreams of painting the world like our very own canvas. Ending world hunger or starting a business that benefits people in some positive way is not far from an old souls list of lofty ideas. Helping mankind is on our dreamy To Do List!

I’m sure a lot of you out there can relate to some of these traits or have come across an old soul yourself. Maybe you’re realizing you are one…what qualities do you have that make you or your partner an Old Soul?

 

 

http://www.In5D.com