Reflection Exercises
These exercises are to be used to help you think about your present, past and future self. Use these to journal or to have meaningful reflection after a busy day.
Movie Reflections
While watching movies with a definite message you can't help but discuss situations with your friends, or relate some of actors' experiences to your own. Below are some questions to ponder for several movies that will be shown throughout the Spring Semester.
- Rudy- React to the following lines:
"Having dreams is what makes life tolerable."
"Chasing your stupid dreams causes nothing but you and everyone around you heartache."
And finally, "I don't care what kind of job I did. If it doesn't produce results it doesn't mean anything."
- Big Fish- Discuss and reflect on the following quotes from the movie in relation to your life and/or your college experience:
"The more difficult something became, the more rewarding it came in the end."
"You were a big fish in a small pond. Now you are in the ocean."
And finally, "We were like strangers who knew each other very well."
- Good Will Hunting- Reflect on these questions:
Did Will ever live up to his pontential?
How can you tell if someone is successful? How did Will define success?
Which of the issues that came up have you personally had to deal with as a college student? How did you feel about the on-sceen portrayal?
Write to your Future Self!
Want to remind yourself of the goals that you've set during your time at Hiram? Remember that day in high school when you wrote yourself a letter about where you thought you'd be a year (two years? more?) later which was later delivered to you at a future date? Now you can write yourself an email to be delivered to you in 2010, 2025 and beyond!
Go to FutureMe.org at http://futureme.org/ and write yourself an email or two. Ask yourself some of these questions or write your own, "Am I married?" "Do I find my job fulfilling?" "Do I keep putting off my true joy in life?"
What do you want to ask your future self?
Pursuing your Dreams
Take time out of your busy schedule, pop a bowl of popcorn, and sit yourself down with a copy of the movie Rudy or Flashdance. These movies share the stories of two individuals who did not give up on their dreams.
What are your dreams? After the credits roll and you've finished the last kernel of popcorn, take 10 minutes to write down the dreams that you'd like to pursue in your life no matter how unattainable you may think that they are. Be sure to revisit this list often and never give up your dreams!
The Spirit of Volunteerism
One of the greatest gifts that we can give to others is the gift of our time. The daily grind of life can slowly fill up our calendars, but this month take a few hours to donate your time to community service.
Fears
Though we might have "tough guy" exteriors, we all harbor certain fears or hindrances that may hold us back from what our heart desires or what makes us truly joyful.
What fears do you hold? Do you fear disappointing yourself or your parents in your life choices? Do you fear that you won't be able to support yourself in a certain career?
Take a moment to write down some of the fears that influence your life. Having recognized these, how might you work to overcome them?
Genie in a Bottle
If you found a bottle that had a Genie inside it who would grant you 3 wishes, what would you wish for?
With your own power, what could you do to make these wishes come true? How would you use these 3 wishes to leave your community and the world a better place? How might you use your gifts and talents to help make these changes a reality?
Date for Discernment
We have discussions with our friends and roommates every day about classes, professors, relationships, the latest TV shows, plans for the coming weekend and many other topics.
This week plan a date with a close friend for coffee or dinner when you both plan to spend some time talking about ideas you have for what you want to do with your life, during the rest of your time at Hiram or after graduation.
What are you struggling with, regarding your vocational path, that you could ask your friend advice about?
Explore New Interests and Different Cultures
Open yourself up to a new experience or explore aspects of a different culture this week. Go to a museum, take in a concert, go to a different house of worship, or try a new ethnic restaurant. Travel off the beaten path and try something new. Test your comfort zone.
Reflect on what you did this day. How else might you learn more about the interests and the cultures of others this week?
What are your Ambitions?
"Keep away from those who try to belittle your ambitions. Small people always do that, but the really great make you believe that you too can become great." -Mark Twain
Ambition is the force driving us to reach our dreams, yet sometimes others can affect our ambition by questioning our choices or dreams we seek to achieve. Sometimes we can affect our own ambitions by talking ourselves out of our dreams and by thinking that we're not smart enough, talented enough or giving enough.
Think of someone great or small who achieved a goal or dream because of his or her ambition, and despite setbacks or criticism, remained focused on achieving that dream. If you could sit down with this person for a cup of coffee, what questions would you ask them? What advice would you seek?
Setting Short-Term Goals
Create a list of ten goals you might have for the upcoming semester. They can be academic or personal goals. Narrow the list down to three goals. Beneath each goal, write four or five steps and requirements that you will need to achieve these goals.
Keep this list with you throughout the semester. Make sure you refer back to it to see if you are on the path of achieving these three goals.
To be nobody but yourself--in a world which is doing its best, night and day, to make you everybody else--means to fight the hardest battle any human being can fight, and never stop fighting. - E.E. Cummings
Describe yourself. Now describe yourself as you think others see you. How do the two descriptions compare?
Where Will You Be?
Write a fictional account of what your life will be 6 months after you have graduated from Hiram College. What 3 principles or influential ideas have you learned here at Hiram? How do you think you will apply these ideas to your life once you have graduated?
Affirming Talents
- What are your gifts and talents? What makes you, you? Make a long list of those attributes.
- Ask a close friend or mentor to make a list of what they think your gifts and talents are and what makes you unique. (Don't show them your list)
- Glue or tape the two lists next to each other in your journal
- Compare the two lists and write about how those two list are similar and how they differ
- Were there qualities on the list that your friend or mentor created that surprised you?
Journey To Achieving Goals:
Have you ever found yourself creating a goal and building a dream about how it would be when you got "there"?
So many times we have an image of how it would be when we accomplished something and then have been disappointed when we actually got "there." The experience didn't measure up to the dream. All that happens is that we then establish another "there" to go toward. It can be a frustrating cycle.
We must remember that it isn't "there" that is important. It's not the destination but the journey that is important. What we need to be aware of and tend to is the journey towards that goal and what we learn about ourselves along that way. Everything happens as you are getting "there."
- Think back to a time when you set a goal for yourself
- Relive that experience through writing and ask yourself "What did I learn along the way?"
- How has that experience helped to shape who you are today?
Freewrite
A springboard is a real effective way of getting us to spring off into those journaling waters.
- On a clean sheet in your journal, write this phrase "If I could change one thing about myself..."
- Complete the phrase and write non-stop for 5 minutes.
- Once 5 minutes has passed, get up and take a 10 minutes walk.
- Come back and read what you wrote in your journal. Were you surprised by what you wrote?