Navigating a Whackadoodle World: Guidepost Three, or the Power of Reflection
Past and present links to our episodes on Guidepost Three: The Power of Reflection.
“So what should we say about Guidepost Three before we post its past episodes?” I asked her.
“I’m thinking that we just explain how what we say and do is a reflection of our belief systems, so if you listen to people Reflectively, you can usually discover a lot about why people act the way they do.”
“Don’t you think we need at least one example?”
“I suppose we could do that,” she said. “But what example?”
“I’ve been thinking a lot about how annoying the word should is.”
“Why is should so annoying?”
“Well, it’s bad enough when people use it on themselves. ‘I should finish that report. I should get to a dentist. I should do this, that, and the other thing.’ When really what they are saying is that for whatever reason, they really don’t want to do any of it. However it’s even worse when people use it on you. ‘You should be more respectful. You should be grateful. You shouldn’t do this, that, or the other thing.’ When what they’re really saying that you’re not living up to their expectations, and it’s bugging them.”
“Yeah,” she nodded thoughtfully. “That is a good example of reflection. I got another one.”
“What?”
“How about ‘He makes me so mad,’” she offered. “When people says stuff like that, they are admitting that they let other people control their emotions.”
“And a more empowering thing to say would be, ‘I let him get to me.’” I concluded for her. “You’re right. That is a good example, and I think we are ready to post those previous episodes about Reflection now.”
Navigating a Whackadoodle World: Episode Three
“So I have that list of abstract nouns you assigned me last week,” she declared as soon as she sat down for our tutoring session. “Good for you,” I told her, watching her as she began to dig through her backpack. “I thought that you would ignore my homework. Most people do."
Navigating a Whackadoodle World: Episode 17, or Did You Really Just Say What I Heard You Say?
“I thought you liked science class,” I couldn’t help but interrupt. “I do like science class,” she assured me. “I just don’t like my science lab, or maybe it’s my lab partner that I just don’t like.”
And for those of you who have already read the above episodes, here is a link to our newest episode on the Power of Reflection.
Navigating a Whackadoodle World: Episode 32, or What does that belief say about you?
“Is it true that the Power of Reflection is your favorite of the Guideposts?” she asked one day. “I suppose it was once true,” I thought back. “But I’ve come to like them all pretty equally over the years.”
She embedded the last link and looked up smiling. “So this is when we remind people that if they know someone who could use the guideposts, they can share this post with a friend. In fact, I think I will even add a link.”
“Nicely done,” I complimented her. “And now what quick post do we want to add for fun?”
“Isn’t it obvious?” she asked. “We need to post ‘Your so Vain’ by Carly Simon.”
“Oh yeah. That is kind of obvious.”
