Self Reflection

     I think that all of us at some point during the day, week, month or year, take a bit of time to look back at the things that have happened during that time. Are we where we thought we would be? Did we accomplish the goals that we had set out? What got in the way of these goals? How can I learn from that and ensure these "road blocks" don't get in the way again. What things went really well? How can we use these lessons to achieve goals that we set in the future. This happens in many forms.  Some through meditation, sometimes we see something that reminds us of an incomplete goal and we try to figure out how we got off track. At any rate these things have one thing in common. We are in the present, thinking of things that happened in the past trying to better ourselves for the future.
     I have always had the ability to figure out the "mechanics" if you will of how things work and be able to progress quicker than others in becoming better at doing things, not all things but a lot of things. This apparently is particularly annoying if you are married or spend a great deal of time with someone. The one thing that is hard for the people that get frustrated with you to understand is that it is equally as frustrating to watch someone do the same thing over and over and not be able to get better at it. This frustration can sometimes leads to feelings resentment or antipathy towards the person or actions of a person who just can't seem to figure things out.
     Recently I have found that if I am in a situation where I begin to feel like this, I start to look at my own actions and look for the flaws in what I am doing. A type of self reflection, not looking in to the past, staying in the moment. Am I doing that? How can I correct it? Are there other things that I could improve? Can this improvement help with other things? In doing this I have been able to help myself and also become more aware and empathetic of the people around me. Feelings or resentment are replaced with feelings of  empathy and understanding allowing me to become more engaged with the people around me. Once any negative feeling has been diminished it allows us to be less critical and able to help the people around us with any hurdles they may have.
     I'm not sure if anyone else has experienced this but if you have I urge you to give this a try.