THE POWER OF REFLECTION

Panagiota Kontoléon • 21 May 2019
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I find that reflection is quite powerful in each and every way one could look at it.  There are many definitions of reflection, i.e., reflection as:

  1. An image of something in a mirror or on any reflective surface, then it is easy to understand;
  2. The return of light, heat, sound, or energy from a surface, in physics;
  3. A sign or a result of something; and
  4. A serious and careful thought. 

No matter in which way one could look at reflection, it is a powerful tool for self-improvement and awareness!

 

I very recently gave a presentation of a clinical case study to my professors and colleagues.  During the presentation, one of my colleagues was silently laughing while also whispering something to the person sitting next to her.  When I first saw her I did not think much of it, but she continued laughing for quite a while even when I was looking at her.  I was upset at the time and almost asked her if anything was funny, but I decided against it.  I looked around in the room and nobody else was laughing so I chose to shift the focus, continue with my presentation and complete it successfully.  Later on, when I saw her outside I confronted her about her laughing during my presentation and she very apologetically told me that her friend had sent her a photo on her mobile and she could not stop laughing; she showed me the photo and we laughed together. 

 

Reflecting on the incident, when I saw my colleague laughing I got upset because I thought she was laughing at me, which brought up my insecurities about having said or done something stupid.  I almost reacted to it by asking her what was funny, but instead I decided to shift the focus and keep talking looking at the rest of the audience.  As evidenced later on, my colleague was not laughing at me, but my PERCEPTION was that she was.  My perception was driven by my fear of exposure and the fact that I might have said something stupid.  Intellectually, even at that moment I knew that this was not possible because I was presenting a case study of mine, therefore there was nothing “clever” or “stupid” to say as there were facts, but my fear of exposure kicked in automatically and was stronger than anything else at the moment. 

 

Self-reflection for me is taking personal inventory of my feelings to increase my awareness.  Reflecting on the incident and laughing at my folly was empowering as I did not get stuck to the behavior and also learned something new about myself, too!