MM#309--Reflection Time

Welcome to the Theory to Action podcast, where we examine the timeless treasures of wisdom from the great books in less time, to help you take action immediately and ultimately to create and lead a flourishing life. Now here's your host, David Kaiser.

Hello, I am David and welcome back to another Mojo Minute. We have an introspective Mojo Minute for you today and even though it's introspective, I still believe it is quite powerful. You see, earlier this week we published for our members a wonderful review by Brian Cain titled One Percent Better. This is actually a story about how to close the gap from where you are to where you want to be. It's a short little book, wonderful little book, packed with a lot of big ideas, and one of those big ideas, those big nuggets of wisdom that our Academy reviews all contain, was this it's good and healthy if we have some self-reflection, if we ask ourselves some good questions. You know those reflection questions that stir up a response within you. In fact, let me share the quote with you, the actual quote from the book. Let's go to the book real fast Questions for reflection. This book was not written for you to read and then put on a shelf in your learner's library. This book was written to inspire you to take a simple, consistent action over time to help you close the gap from where you are to where you want to be. In my experience as an author, teacher, coach, consultant and speaker, the best time for reflection is, after reading, something that moves you to take action. Please use the following pages for reflection on what you have read in this book to help you close the gap from where you are to where you want to be. So, the more that I pondered this notion of reflection time and reflection questions, and how important these questions are in fact, how paramount they are to our natural growth, I thought well, it's true, both in the natural form and, most especially, in the supernatural form. You see, there's a longstanding tradition within Catholicism and within some Protestant sects of Christianity that as you advance in your spiritual life, you begin to want to strive more fully to live a life of virtue, to live a life of love. And one actual good habit to get going in your life on that road towards the spiritual life is to make a daily examination of conscience, which is really just a series of reflection questions. So imagine that two authors from totally different segments of genres really talking about the same nugget of wisdom reflection questions. Is that not cool? I think it's wonderfully cool and neat, so much so that I want to share even more with you about this. I actually found this gem from a wonderful book called you Can Become a Saint by Mary Ann Budnick, and here's what she writes about the daily examination. If we hope to make a good confession, we have to strive to examine our consciences well. Depending on the length between confessions, sometimes it's difficult to remember our weak points. It's helpful to develop a habit of doing a daily examination of conscience, going over the day, each evening, so we can see the rough spots where we have to improve for the next day, perhaps to keep a little notebook and jot down in some form of code your failings for that day. This will help you to see a pattern where you have to struggle a little bit more, you have to carry your cross a little bit more, and it will also help you to make a better and more complete confession. Consider the cause of your failings. Are you short of temper Because you're tired? Maybe getting to bed a little earlier would help the situation. If moodiness and sensitivity are the problem, perhaps pride is at the root of your unhappiness. By knowing this, it's easier to catch ourselves before we react to the imaginary, slight or even a real one. If impure thoughts are the problem, perhaps avoiding TV movies and certain magazines may be the solution. We're scrolling late at night on your phone After the bookkeeping each night. Resolve to improve in some small area or way for the next day. If your patience wears thin when the children come home from school or work, pressure builds. Resolve to prepare yourself spiritually by doing some spiritual reading or saying the rosary or reading the gospel to help you better handle the upcoming situation. The peace received from these norms will spill into your personality, making you more relaxed and cheerful and keeping your resolutions for the next day quite simple. Now, if they become too grand, you'll become discouraged when you fail to execute on them. If a resolution does not work, then during the examination of the next night, consider a different plan of action. Is that not cool? I think it's fantastically cool. It's like sports teams watching the game film from the previous game. You do want to see how the defenses interact and what worked and what didn't, and what happened to the offense. Why do we score that touchdown or why do we score that goal? That way you can improve on the good things, minimize the bad things. These reflection questions are merely our game film from the night before, the day before, in fact. So they're good reflection questions. Now you can also do this daily exam from the 10 Commandments. Here are some reflection questions on that way of doing this daily exam. For commandment number one, the first commandment I am the Lord your God. You should not have strange gods before me. Some reflection questions are do I seek the love of God with all my heart and all my soul and all my strength? Do I put anything or anyone above God? Do I pray daily? Have I had any involvement with the occult witchcraft, wicca, ouija boards, seances, tarot cards, new age crystals, fortune telling or the like? Have I put faith in horoscopes? Have I received holy communion in the state of mortal sin? Have I abused the sacrament of penance by lying to the priest or deliberately not confessing a mortal sin? Have I denied a truth of the faith out of concern for respect or the opinion of others? At number two, you should not take the name of the Lord your God in vain. Here are some reflection questions. Have I used God's holy name irreverently? Have I blasphemed God, the Church, mary, the saints or sacred places or things? The third commandment remember to keep holy the Lord's day. Do I try to keep Sunday as a day of prayer and rest and relaxation, avoiding unnecessary work? Have I deliberately come late or left early from Mass without good reason. Commandment number four honor your father and your mother. Do I honor and respect my parents? Have I deliberately hurt my parents? Do I treat my children with love and respect? Do I support and care for the well-being of all family members? Have I neglected my family duties? Do I honor and obey my lawful superiors in work or in other form or fashion? 5. The Fifth Commandment you Shall Not Kill. 6. Have I deliberately harmed anyone? 7. Have I had an abortion or encouraged an abortion? 8. Have I attempted suicide or seriously considered it? 9. Have I abused drugs or alcohol? 10. Have I led anyone to sin through a bad example or through direct encouragement? 11. The Sixth Commandment you Shall Not Committed Altruy. 12. Here are some reflection questions for those that are married 13. Am I faithful to my spouse and thought, word and action? 14. I'm sorry, have I? Am I faithful to my spouse and thought and action? 15. Little aside, here I said word and probably everybody's like holy smokes. 16. Lightning's getting ready to strike, just kidding folks. 17. The real question for the married is am I faithful to my spouse and thought and in action? 18. Have I used artificial contraception or been sterilized? 19. Was I married outside the church without proper permission of the church? 20. For those that are unmarried, have I engaged in sexual activity with anyone of either sex? 21. And for all, have I deliberately viewed pornographic magazines, videos, internet websites? 22. Have I masturbated? 23. Have I used imperial language or told imperial jokes? 24. Do I dress modestly? 25. The seventh commandment you shall not steal. 26. Some reflection questions 27. Have I stolen or accepted stolen goods? 28. Have I deliberately destroyed the property of others? 29. Have I cheated anyone of what is owed them? 30. Do I gamble excessively? 31. Do I share what I have with the poor and the church according to my means? 32. Have I pirated materials, videos, music or software? 33. The eighth commandment you shall not bear false witness against your neighbor. 34. Some reflection questions 35. Have I lied? 36. Have I sworn falsely? 37. Have I plagiarized or been academically dishonest? 38. Have I gossiped? 39. Have I received secrets or confidential information without good reason? 40. Have I ruined the good name of others by spreading lies or maliciously revealing their faults or sins? 41. The ninth commandment you shall not desire your neighbor's wife. 42. Have I deliberately and consciously permitted sexual thoughts about anyone besides my spouse? 43. Do I guard my imagination and my senses? 44. Have I watched shows or plays or pictures or movies that contain impure scenes with the deliberate intention of being aroused by them? 45. Am I responsible about what I read? 46. And finally, the tenth commandment you shall not desire your neighbor's goods. 47. Am I envious of the possessions and abilities and talents, beauty or success of others? 48. And the number one commandment that Christ has taught us you shall love the neighbor as yourself. 49. Do I love my neighbor? Is a reflection question. Is there anyone whom I do not love or refuse to love? Have I wished harm or misfortune on anybody? 50. So that was a long list. Thank you for hanging in there with me. I will put a link for those reflection questions regarding the Ten Commandments and for the daily examination of conscience. So in today's Spogem minute, let us not run away from these in all types of reflection questions. After all, they are questions and they certainly demand answers, but those answers are not final. Tomorrow is another day. We can get 1% better tomorrow than tomorrow by making a good resolution today and then keep it tomorrow, and when we do that each and every day, we will surely be on the road to living a flourishing life, and we can do that. It's hopeful, so with that let's roll.

Thank you for joining us. We hope you enjoyed this Theory to Action podcast. Be sure to check out our show page at teammojoacademycom, where we have everything we discussed in this podcast, as well as other great resources. Until next time, keep getting your mojo on.