I BELIEVE in reflection, so one evening I decided to invite some of the women from the Women’s Association for Sustainable Development, a few friends and some colleagues to my house for an Evening of Reflection and Inspiration.

As we countdown to the end of 2018 I figured an evening like that can benefit us. It was scheduled to be three hours long and lasted for five and that is an indication that was a meaningful time together. It was a wide cross-section and everyone shared and it felt like a safe space to express yourself without anyone judging you.
These are some of the comments.

Clemencio Goddette
“A night of reflection, inspiration, motivation, therapy and truth. It was so refreshing to be in a space where women come together, shared their stories and be supported by other women because we really need each other to survive this journey. Thank you Ms. Noel for these simple words with deep meaning, “WHY NOT YOU?” When life hits us, it is so easy to ask “WHY ME?” But everything we experienced helps to shape our future. I can’t wait for the next meet up.”

Walterine Mc Leod
“It is always a beautiful thing when women with a burst of positive energy and the strength to share from their hearts are able to inspire and take other women on an upward journey. It was quite a refreshing evening. Ladies, we are blessed. We are strong and we are overcomers. Let us create a ripple effect by touching and impacting one life at a time. God bless us all for He loves us unconditionally.”

Maryam Jameela
“A night full of inspiration and motivation. It was indeed wonderful to be a part of everyone’s recent successes.”

Shondel Cummings
“It was an inspiring evening. I was in tears to hear the experience of women in our society, women that have a positive impact on society and pass through all those negative situations and here I am throwing myself a pity party.”

On my recent mastermind session, we were discussing the “Law of Reflection” in The 15 Invaluable Laws of Growth by my mentor John Maxwell. All the laws are important and I am witnessing the change in myself and students as a result of the content.
There are many different ways of growing and an infinite number of lessons to be learned in life. But there are some kinds of growth that come to us only if we are willing to stop, pause and allow the lesson to catch up with us.

Experience is not the best teacher. Evaluated experience is! There’s an old joke that experience is a hard teacher because the test is given first and the lesson is given afterward. That’s true, but only if the person takes time to reflect after the experience. Otherwise, you receive the test first and the lesson may never come. People have innumerable experiences every day, and many learn nothing from them because they never take the time to pause and reflect. That’s why it is so important to pause and let understanding catch up with us.

I think people make a big mistake here because they’re so focused on activity, being busy, and rush-rush-rush. The thought of taking time to reflect and evaluate their actions is too overwhelming. They tell themselves that they have no time to stop and reflect because they can’t afford to stop to take away from the activity. Doesn’t more activity get you ahead in life? Hence the problem with the average person is the failure to realise that doing a lot of the same will get you a lot of the same unless you stop, reflect, evaluate, and change your strategy.

I was once on the hamster wheel and I am happy I came off and it was because of reflection. I have yet to meet a person who doesn’t benefit from pausing and reflecting. In fact, stopping to reflect is one of the most valuable activities a person can do to grow. It has much greater value to them than motivation or encouragement. Pausing allows them to make sure they are on the right track.

After all, if someone is going down the wrong road, he doesn’t need motivation to speed up. He needs to stop, reflect, and change course. If we don’t take the time to pause and reflect, we can miss the significance of such events. Reflection allows those experiences to move from being life markers to life makers. We don’t have to wait until the end of the year to reflect because it can be part of our weekly or daily routine. I can go on but there is not enough space but I promise to continue.

If you think my next mastermind will interest you don’t hesitate to send a message. This is the last Sunday in 2018 and I encourage us to make “REFLECTION” a priority as we celebrate this beautiful journey called life BEYOND THE RUNWAY.