Are there other ways to look at the situation? What did you read in the literature that led you to think differently about the experience?

Reflective journal

Exploration

This section provides you with the opportunity to take the time and begin searching for new ways of explaining discrepancies in your understanding or new ways to live with them. Test options and search for new meanings – develop alternative perspectives: come to way of thinking and acting that you feel make sense of a situation – it is a transition stage.

Leaving behind a familiar but inappropriate assumption can be a wrenching experience. A common tendency is to hang onto the assumption or behavior. Try to modify it to fit the situation more closely.

Include 2 – 3 paragraphs describing how this process has affected your understanding, your ‘sense-making’ of what you wrote in the initial paragraphs. Are there other ways to look at the situation? What did you read in the literature that led you to think differently about the experience?