THE IMPORTANCE OF INTROSPECTION

 

“Knowing others is intelligence. Knowing yourself is true wisdom.”

 The school had given an option to the students to write the exam in the Honesty Test room, where there wouldn’t be an invigilator.  A group of students grabbed the opportunity for the wrong reasons, as they felt that it was a short cut to success. To their disappointment, some of the students who wrote the exam with integrity, spilled the bean. They informed the teacher about it. The teacher summoned the students and conducted an enquiry. The students accepted that they indulged in malpractice. The teacher told them that they were not cheating her, but themselves. She added that, short cut to success will always cut short their success.

 

The rest of the students from class twelve were summoned. The teacher addressed all of them. Initially there was a lot of restlessness amongst them.  They were not in a mood to listen to her long sermon. The teacher was not ready to give up. She knew that this was the right time for her to din sense into them as they were in the final year of school and would leave in a few months’ time. She told them that she would like to share with them one thing that changed her life. The students were curious to know what it was. She said, “I was in the habit of blaming someone whenever I did something wrong. My father noticed this and told me that every day, before going to bed, I must run through my entire day from the time I woke up. This will help me to reflect on my actions. By practicing this every day, over a period of time, I began to develop self-awareness. Introspection has become part of my life now. It helps me become aware of my actions and to correct myself.”

 Introspection is the best tool for self-development. In introspection you become the subject of your own study. It leads to self-awareness. Self-awareness gives life to our inner voice and our inner voice guides us in our life. So, awareness is the key to progress. By introspecting we will realize where we went wrong, and a correction can be made. Progressively it will help us to grow in the right direction. When we don’t introspect, we keep committing mistakes over and over again. The teacher asked them to maintain a journal in which they would put a tick at the end of each day, if they were right, and a cross if they were wrong. She concluded on a note of triumph by saying,  ”This will help you get closer and closer to YOU.”

#Thoughtfulthursdays #nsn #nsnschool #mentoring #parenting