Letter: The importance of introspection

We could all benefit from taking a pause in our busy lives to take a step back to examine our choices and behaviors. Every few months each of us could try, as objectively as is possible, to analyze our behaviors.

This could include such factors as: (1) Recognizing the importance of being respectful, loving and kind toward our spouses, our children and our parents. (2) Reflecting on if we are working so much that we are neglectful of the needs that our children so desperately have for their parents' attention. (3) Realizing that life is short and our kindness and consideration will be remembered long after we are gone. (4) Weighting whether we are pursuing wealth, or the accumulation of possessions, so much that the value of experiences and the importance of meaningful connections with others is ignored.

It is so easy to develop repetitive behaviors and habits that are destructive to our personal growth. It’s easy to avoid personal connections with others. We all need to seek balance in our lives. Each of us has evolved into the person we have become, based upon our choices.

Thousands of people have lived their lives based upon specific past experiences they have endured — often as children. Having an alcoholic or drug-addicted parent, being in a car accident with significant injuries, experiencing the death of a loved one, living with an illness or disability, being the victim of a serious crime or suffering the long-term abuse of another are examples. Even one brief but traumatic event can cause a person to live life in a very specific manner.

The very sad consequence is the person's entire life will be lived based upon the subconscious beliefs of which the person is often unaware.

This is why our behaviors as well as the underlying beliefs that so affect these behaviors must be examined.

Hamilton Moore

Rocky Mount