Pandemic: A curse or an opportunity to self-reflect?

Social distancing! Quarantine! Pandemic! Face masks! Face shield! N95 masks! Surgical masks! Gloves! SOPs! These terms were unknown to most of us before 2020!

Who knew that Covid-19 pandemic would change the whole world? You can’t go out! You can’t go to work! You can’t go to school/college! How do you find this change?

Some questions have been stuck in our mind! When will corona virus end? Is coronavirus getting better? Is fever a sign of corona virus? Has the vaccine been developed?

How do you then see this pandemic as? The same as other people think? You consider it a curse? You are desperate to see everything back to normal? You have ceased to work towards your goals?

Or are you among those very few lucky people who are determined to find something good in the current situation?

There is always a flip side in any situation which might require some effort to uncover! Try to see the positive aspect of pandemic! How about giving self-reflection a try? Have you previously thought about it? If not, then try addressing some self-reflection questions and enjoy the benefits!

Is there a positive side of the current situation?

Whenever people wanted to persuade me to look on the bright aspect of a terrible scenario, I ‘d grumble because it’s a sure indication that things suck when you start to turn to such mind manipulation tactics. But soon I realized, it is much more than mind manipulation tactic. Humans are never satisfied with whatever they have! You will definitely relate to it! One who has a bike yearns for a car, one who has the car yearns for a bigger car and so on. Similarly, when we had all the freedom to roam around and do our work, we kept on whimpering and begging for holidays or days off. Now we have days off and the opportunity to spend time with loved ones, but we want to go back for work! This is high time we switch off this innate ungratefulness in us and make use of this time to know ourselves better.

Self-reflection to be considered this pandemic

Self-reflection provides an opportunity to grow our self-awareness. It helps us in knowing more of who we are, what we value, why we think and act in certain ways. It is a kind of introspection to learn about our own nature and essence. According to research, self-reflection during the hard times can facilitate healing and better human development. There are numerous self-reflection questions that we can consider during the current pandemic to utilize this time in the best way possible!

Am I utilizing my time wisely?

What do you think? Are you making the best use of your time during the current pandemic? If you can answer this question proudly by saying ‘Yes’ then you are going in the right direction. However, if you think the answer to this self-reflection question is ‘No’ then you need to reconsider your actions and behaviors! Make best use of your time to enjoy unlimited self-reflection benefits!

Am I employing a healthy perspective?

What are your thoughts about the current situation? Are you feeling it as a burden? Are you waiting for this time to pass so that you can restart your routine? So are you willing to compromise a big chunk of your life just like that scrolling through social media and nothing productive? According to many theories, pandemic is going to leave long-lasting effects on the world. There is a possibility that distance working and distance learning will become permanent modes of working and learning. How about adapting to this change right now and save the future?

Am I pursuing my targets that I had set before pandemic?

Does this self-reflection question give you goose bumps? Of course, considering this self-reflection question can provide you a realistic picture of your progress towards your goals. Consider what’s stopping you from achieving your goals? Have you lost your job? Find an alternative to sustain your financial stability. There are numerous free-lancing platforms where you can utilize your talent and interest in earning money. What’s better than pursuing goals? This is an ultimate self-reflection benefit.

Am I taking care of my physical health during the pandemic?

Back in the days they used to say “health is wealth” but the saying has lost its worth in the current times. Everybody should consider this self-reflection question to evaluate their physical health or vulnerability to illness. The most important thing to do these days is to remain physically fit so that our immune system protects us against coronavirus. An important contributor of physical fitness these days is social distancing. So practice it and utilize digital means to remain connected to your loved ones. Physical fitness should be one of the most important self-reflection benefit that must be gained this quarantine.

What worries me the most about future?

Are you pessimistic about your future? Don’t worry. You are not alone. Most of the people around the globe are worried about their future due to the current pandemic. Covid-19 pandemic has put numerous restrictions on the lives of people. Their financial and social resources have started to decline. Work on rebuilding your resources! Get indulge in self-reflection and think what concerns you about future and work on it. In this way, you will be able to get the best out of self-reflection benefits.

Have I done something for those who need support?

Have you donated something in last few months? This is very important to take care of the people who are disadvantaged in financial aspects. The pandemic has further worsen conditions for them. So, it is very important to do something for less privileged as well. Helping someone is an act of kindness that helps us grow as individuals. This induces personal satisfaction which is important for our mental health. An important self-reflection benefit is that it can help in understanding the perspective of another person. Understanding perspective of disadvantaged people is important to be able to serve them the best!

What have I learned in this pandemic?

This is a very important self-reflection question. An experience is considered useless if you have not learned anything from it. We all encounter positive and negative experiences in our lives. An experience is best utilized if one has improved one’s knowledge and learning through it. So, reflect on what you have learned from this. Improved interpersonal relationships? Importance of communication? Learned a new theory? Leaned a new skill? We are strong, we are surviving it and we have adapted successfully! If you face any challenge in future, the memory of this pandemic will provide you with motivation. You should remember that if you have survived challenges posed by Covid-19 pandemic then you can overcome any other challenge.

Have I written about any significance experience in this pandemic?

How do you plan to record your thoughts and experiences associated with Covid-19? Isn’t it an interesting self-reflection question? Don’t you think that you must write about your experiences for future reference to get the best out of self-reflection benefits? Jot down your experiences. In addition to you, your future generations will also be able to enjoy your self-reflection benefits! Keeping a journal or diary is one of the most used therapeutic technique as well.

Do I miss my workplace/university?

An important self-reflection question! You would agree with me that we all hated our busy routines and hectic schedules of our professional and academic lives! We all used to complain for not having time for ourselves. We desperately wanted long vacations to enjoy our own company. But, what are we doing now? We are still complaining for not being able to go for study or work! An important self-reflection benefit is that it can provide us the opportunity to compare our thoughts and actions before and during the pandemic. In this way, we will find and work on our areas that need improvement.

Do you think that you took some things for granted in the past that you crave now?

Everybody would definitely respond with ‘Yes’ to this self-reflection question! We all regret for taking important things for granted in the past. It used to be so easy and normal to shake hands with friends, hug them and eat with them! Now we can’t do these things because otherwise we would put others and ourselves at risk. We now need to maintain social distance with our own parents and loved ones as well which definitely hurts us. In this way, one self-reflection benefit is that it has made us learn the importance of our freedom to commute and meet with loved ones.

Would I still feel exhausted if life becomes as normal as it used to be?

If you think that you will enjoy the ‘back to normal’ life, then you have made the best use of quarantine. However, if you still think that normal life would be exhausting then you need to reconsider your goals of life. If you are an ambitious person, you must have a stronger desire to see things getting back to the normal path.

What would you do differently if life becomes normal?

I must say that this is the most important self-reflection question! You have not gained any self-reflection question if you do not intend to make changes in your attitude and approach towards life. The main purpose of self-reflection is to ignite the desire of working on you flaws. This is the most important self-reflection benefit because it reflects the effectiveness of self-reflection.

Conclusion

There are other self-reflection questions too that you can consider to know yourself more and get the best use of quarantine. There are numerous self-reflection benefits that you can enjoy in the long run. The good news is that you do not need to follow a prescribed format of self-reflection questions to enjoy maximum self-reflection benefits. Moreover, there is no fixed number of self-reflection questions to be considered.

Self-reflection has a subjective nature which benefits different people in different ways. When you will sit to practice self-reflection, the most important self-reflection questions will automatically appear in your mind making it easy to find the directions. Try to find a quiet place to practice self-reflection because distraction breaks the flow of automatic thoughts making it difficult to seek maximum self-reflection benefits.

References

Ardelt, M., & Grunwald, S. (2018). The importance of self-reflection and awareness for human development in hard times. Research in Human Development, 15(3-4), 187-199.

Gerace, A., Day, A., Casey, S., & Mohr, P. (2017). ‘I think, you think’: Understanding the importance of self-reflection to the taking of another person’s perspective.

87 Self-Reflection Questions for Introspection [+Exercises]

https://positivepsychology.com/introspection-self-reflection/