IN RETROSPECT
Since I sold my condo in Stockholm, I’ve been doing some stock trading. It has been a great source of income while I’ve been trying to figure out in which direction to take my career, but sometimes it’s quite a challenge for the psyche. Like last week, when I lost a lot of money — a defeat that brought up issues and doubts in other areas of my life as well.
It’s interesting how we as humans always have this tendency to let things go too far before we wake up; before we realize that we need to change something. A rule that seems to apply equally well in things both large and small. The good thing with a crisis, however, is that you’re forced to stop and think about what you can do or how you can think differently. That's what I've been wrapping my mind around this past week. One thing I realized was that I've been trying to solve problems with action only, instead of taking a step back and thinking first. A bad decision is usually followed by more bad decisions, unless you stop for a while in between. To act in panic or fear rarely leads to anything good.
Last week, I pressed the pause button. I took time to catch up with myself, to find my spiritual connection and my balance again. I needed to rediscover the sense of calm, security, confidence, ease, and joy. Such a time-out is always time well spent. Grounded in those feelings, you make good decisions.
It's easy to get caught up in self-criticism and to let that bring down your confidence. Hindsight is 20/20 — it’s always easy to see in retrospect what you should have done differently. Still, you cannot escape the fact that it’s a waste of energy to agonize over things (although it’s sometimes very difficult to resist). What's done is done, and sooner or later you have to work from the new starting position, better not to mourn the old one too much. After all, we are all humans and humans make mistakes. That’s ok. What you can do in retrospect though, is to see if you can learn anything from what happened.
My insights are hardly any news. I’ve made the same insights many times before. Every now and then though, we seem to need a reminder of what we already know…
Love,
Hanna
Do A Little Soul-Searching…
1. Have you made any mistakes lately, big or small? Is there anything you can you learn from those mistakes?
2. When was the last time you took time to catch up with yourself?
3. Do any other thoughts or insights appear?