One of the most necessary, as well as beneficial practices a woman can have is to take fifteen minutes to an hour each day and devote the time to sizing things up, planning the day’s work for tomorrow, reviewing the accomplishments of the day, reviewing larger goals, and having a bit of silence for thinking.

The benefits of sizing up things in solitude are so great that it is a wonder more has not been written on the subject.

Plants grow in darkness, yet the common understanding is they grow in sunshine. The sunshine is absolutely necessary for the growth of the plant, but the real growth is done in the quiet darkness.

A woman’s brain develops in solitude, yet bustle, crowds and business activity are as necessary to the woman as sunshine is to the plant.

The real brain and moral growth takes place in solitude.

Here again, we must remember the law of compensation (you pay for what you get or you get what you pay for), if a plant had all sunshine and no shadow, and if a woman had all hustle and bustle and no solitude, it would be like a machine without an operator; the woman and the plant would run so fast that something would have to give way.

On the other hand, compensation says that if a woman is too much in solitude, or the plant too much in darkness, they will wither and die.

There are two kinds of bird, the kind that lives in a flock, like the blackbird and the wild duck, and the kind that lives by itself, like the eagle. Amongst birds, the eagle is chosen as an emblem for the flag, and never the blackbird.

There are two kinds of woman, the kind that lives in the herd, and the kind that has strong individuality and needs room to grow. The herd woman exists in infinitely greater numbers than the individual woman.

The woman who lives in a herd, who is ever present where the lights are bright, where gaiety abounds, where excitement reigns, where feasting is present, soon gets herself into the habit of cultivating this excitement. She is never happy when alone, and she is always talking.

The brain never sleeps and something must occupy it.

The herd woman is great because she fills her brain with stimuli, she seeks constant excitement and she brings light to the world around her.

The woman with the individuality is great because she has always spent plenty of time by herself, sizing up things in solitude. She has gained perspective and can see the good in all of her sisters.

Every woman, before retiring at night or even during the day, can take a few minutes to herself and carefully analyse the doings of the day.

She can weigh the positive and negative acts, the good and the bad, the wise and the foolish, the right and the wrong impulses, the gain and loss in achievement. She can strike a balance, and if she sees that the bad, deterrent and backward things in the lead she can resolve to fix the problems she faces.

The woman who goes along without this reflection in solitude is like the merchant who keeps no record, who pays her bills from the cash drawer and takes what is left for profit. She will still be running a little shop in twenty years, while her competitor who sized things up each day will be in the wholesale business or will have retired with a competency.

Try this practice of reviewing your day, planning the next day and reflecting on your goals for two weeks, and the benefits you will receive will be so magnificent, it will need no further suggestion to make you keep up the practice.

What do you do to take time out and think about your goals? Share with us below!

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