Lent is always a time for personal reflection and improvement. The Jesuits have a reflective exercise known as the Examen. I use a simplified form of the Examen and offer it as something to try during this Lenten season. I make a habit of doing this reflective exercise in the quiet of each night before I go to sleep.
Step 1: Acknowledge and be thankful for the many good things in your life. After you do this for a while, you will have a key list list of important people and situations that you give thanks for each night. Next, be thankful for the particular day that you just lived. Try and specifically recall at least one thing from the day that you are thankful for.
Step 2: Deliberately go over the events, situations and interactions of the day from the time you woke up in the morning. Pay attention to any of your thoughts, words and deeds that may not have been as loving as they could have been. Reflect upon how these can be reframed differently in the future. Identify, if it presents itself, a particular behavior that you know you should cease or improve upon.
Step 3: Ask God to forgive your shortcomings of the day and pray for the grace to do better tomorrow. Offer the one behavior you identified in (2) above to God, commit to cease or improve the behavior, and pray for the grace to keep your commitment.
Step 4: If there is something heavy on your heart, offer it to him and leave it in His hands. Take some time to silently remain in His presence and just listen as you drift off to sleep.
Sometimes, the next morning you may awake with a helpful thought or a meaningful dream. At very least, I find that I often awake restful and at Peace.
Educhirp 