Life moves fast.
You say something.
They react.
You move on.
The old pattern is to either never look back, or to replay moments only to beat yourself up.
“I sounded stupid.”
“I always do this.”
“I messed everything up.”
Reflection is different.
It is a gentle pause after the fact to ask, “What actually happened there?”
Not to punish, but to learn.
How did my words land?
What was I really feeling?
What would I like to try differently next time?
When you reflect with curiosity instead of cruelty, your patterns start to show themselves.
Not as proof that you are broken, but as maps.
Places where you can make small adjustments and watch new outcomes appear.
Love, here, is giving yourself the same patient attention you would offer someone you are mentoring.