Introspection 

Introspection simply means to look into or examine yourself (thanks, dictionary😊). Sometimes, it has to do with examining your feelings or your mental state.

In fact, this word came to me (around last month) when I was listening to a speaker giving a talk on The Power of Becoming. He just mentioned the word at random, and I thought to myself, “that will be an interesting topic to write on”. So in fairness, this was not planned way ahead of time to write on.

On Saturday, I had a late night phone call from someone who needed help finding a place to stay after been evicted. As I was talking on the phone, I had flashbacks of helping people in the same predicament and the like, then later, they will take the advantage and be ungrateful. I was feeling very used like it had happened in the past and felt like my fingers were about to be burned again.

Honestly, looking back in hindsight, the response to this guy’s plea was cold. When we hanged up, I was very quiet and then my mind drifted away in the company of my wife. She later asked whether it was the best response, and if we could do something to help even if we are taken for granted again or hurt (she read my thoughts).

Let me state this disclaimer: I am not an advocate of been taken advantage of, or been treated like a doormat. That is tantamount to emotional abuse. Sometimes, firm stances are good, even if it makes you look callous. The truth is, you are not but may seem like that in the heat of the moment. Howbeit, learn to decipher between a genuine need and one that wants to make a buck out of you. The problem is when we have allowed so many people to make a buck out of us, when the ones with genuine needs show up, we recoil and retreat to our nest. In my instance, a past bad experience was clouding my judgment in being Christlike, which was wrong on my part.

The following day, I was searching inwardly to know why I gave that response. I found three things which triggered that response, and one of them was my emotional energy was almost deplete. When it gets to that level, thank God I know how to refill to make sure I don’t drive on “red”.

The morale to this story is had I not had an honest introspective look, I wouldn’t have helped myself to become a better man, and that destructive path of coldness and aloofness will still have trail-blazed regardless. In life, you will never get the answers to many of life’s questions and cannot control the outcome of outward circumstances either. What is within your control is how you act, behave or think. That is not a mystery.

Please take time to invest in yourself by knowing the real you. Take an honest, hard look at yourself and ask questions; perhaps some uncomfortable ones too. Introspection gives you an inward look or tour of your inner man- the real you. You will know and discover much after this exercise.

Let me end with this scripture I have come to love from the Psalmist, David:

“Examine me, and probe my thoughts! Test me, and know my concerns!” ‭‭Psalms‬ ‭139:23‬ ‭NET‬‬

May this also be your prayer! Will love to read your feedback on this. It means a lot to me. Please don’t forget to like, share and subscribe to this blog

Till I come your way again…

Peace & Love