Martin Israel: "It is a well recognised discipline of the spiritual life that a period should be spent each night in recollection of what we have done, and how we have comported ourselves during the day. This period of recollection brings us back to the way we have revealed ourself to others (and ourself) during the stress of relationships, and as such gives us a useful self-portrait of how we stand at the moment. This discipline should not be regarded as one of morbid introspection or a painstaking analysis of possible motives for every action we have performed... The practice of awareness in everyday life is one way of developing a conscious response to the details of our surroundings instead of moving around in the witless state of a sleepwalker which too often characterises unawakened man. Nevertheless, this type of exercise in willed awareness and response is tiring and mechanical; in itself it will eventually wane through sheer fatigue and boredom. This same criticism applies to those schools of inner development which teach their disciples to think and observe themselves carefully before they say or do anything. If this advice were carried out to the letter, the person would lose his spontaneity and his capacity for lightning changes in conduct that may follow fluctuations in outer circumstances. The right way to cultivate self-awareness is to act spontaneously as the situation demands, and then later to meditate quietly and earnestly on that response. Was it part of my desired reaction to such a situation? If not, how did it betray my good intentions, and why did I do it? A few fairly mundane experiences of this type can shatter the imposing façade of learning or respectability we have built around ourselves (Jung's "persona", or mask), and reveal depths of fear, envy, jealousy, and resentment that are seldom confronted directly. The important point is that we of ourselves cannot know, in our present state of development, what is our best way of progress in life. Certainly it is possible to develop a particular aptitude or talent by painstaking practice, but life, and how best we are to live it, is above any personal cultivation."