The backstory
I’ve been reading a lot of psychology articles lately, mainly because I want to go deeper in understanding certain behavioral patterns of people (as well as my own.)
I wholeheartedly recommend the folks over at psych2go.net. I found this great read about nine things that introverts would like people to tell them from time to time. Out of all the things listed, the first one resonated with me the most. Here’s an excerpt:
“Due to their introversion, introverts tend to look for ways to get things done behind the scenes so as not to get the spotlight shone on them. Unfortunately, that leads to much of their work or achievements going unnoticed and unappreciated.
The core stuff
That was pretty much the inspiration for this blog post. Have you ever had to do something that required some serious energy-draining thinking from you? Were you proud of the outcome? Were you recognized for it? Yeah, I’ve been there too.
But on the other hand, I’ve sometimes received compliments when doing something nice for someone else. And let me tell you, when people value an action on you, specially one that you are certain most of the time would be unseen, it can brighten up your day like few things can.
I’ve always thought of myself as a person who’s constantly aware of his surroundings. I notice tiny little details on everyday interactions that mostly go unnoticed to other people. But this doesn’t necessarily mean that I take action on something that I see. I just notice. And since I’ve been on this journey of self-discovery as of late, I began to train myself on being more self-aware and practicing mindfulness, in order to better understand my thoughts, feelings, behavior and, therefore, have a better understanding of others and their actions. I’ve begun to do this in order to be more proactive on these situations.
In doing my research for this post, I found this great article from the Mayo Clinic website that covers the definition of mindfulness and it’s benefits. And here’s another one about self-awareness too. They will both help you, if you decide to embark or already are on this journey, of better understanding others and yourself. Both of these practices are key if you truly wish to become a more perceptive person. And I think we all need to strive for that, even if just a little bit. There’s too much chaos and confusion in the world today, but we have to be and do better each and every day.
Wrapping up
Everywhere you go, I’m fairly certain that you will find yourself in situations where there are things happening, people doing stuff that will go mostly unnoticed to everyone. Be it at work, at home, on the streets. In this day and age, were everyone at every time has “somewhere to be or something to get done“, it might just be a good idea to slowdown sometimes and become more aware of the things around you.
As for me? I started by becoming more aware of the blessings around me right at home. I thank God every day for my children. Their smiles, innocent gestures, and just the way they are and how they connect with me every single day. The action I have taken on this is to give thanks to Him more often for giving me these amazing gifts. You see, gratitude is contagious, and in time this will eventually spill onto other things in my life that I should be grateful for.
So my encouragement to you on this topic is this: try to see the unseen and notice the unnoticed. Lead the way, and you will see change. Others will follow. If you look around, there are surely one or two blessings that you haven’t really noticed in your life. And remember, something you see my look small in your eyes, but it could be huge for somebody else. Lean into it and see what happens.
Be blessed!