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You need to be aware of yourself, your feelings, your behavior and be conscious of your choices.
Most people are not aware. They are 'asleep' because they believe it is too uncomfortable to be awake.
Life has a way waking us up when we try to avoid confronting ourselves...
... Suddenly things fall apart and we find ourselves asking 'WHY?, Why me?' or blaming everything and everyone else for what is wrong in their life.
People who have been through traumatic experiences will often tell you it turned out to be the greatest gift. Think back to the times in your life when a traumatic event led you to have a great AHA! moment about yourself and your life. Each of us has these moments.
Such situations can open the door to a greater wisdom, can give us a chance to know what we don't know. And this awareness, allows us to decide if we want to "know" and, if we do, to take action. These moments are life changing.
You can not achieve personal mastery without self- awareness.
You don't have to wait for a crisis. You can consciously change. How?
What most people do is try escape what they perceive as pain and struggle. But they only delay the reordering of what they need to learn next.
People seek to escape the symptoms of this 'edge' in 3 ways:
- 1. Withdrawing from friends and family and avoiding responsibilities.
2. Speaking a lot, explosive outbursts, aggression.
3. Drugs/ alcohol, TV, food etc.
Most people have some version of 3 and a primary mode of either version 1 or 2.
So what are the alternatives?
Don't avoid. Make conscious decisions. If you can stand the heat, you will quickly become more in every way.
You will reorganize your way of doing things, and your family, team or business. And you will be capable of doing more than before. And you will do it even better.
How do you stand in the fire? Daily practise exercise:
It takes courage to face yourself. Do not go into denial. Remain conscious.
1. Observe yourself. Be a neutral witness. Say ' Oh there I am feeling frustrated by ...' or 'Oh there I am in traffic ˆ how interesting? ' Become curious about yourself and what's happening outside or inside you.
2. Feel whatever emotions are surfacing. The closer to the turning point, the more emotion will be released. Allow yourself to feel the emotions. Sit quietly, breathe into your feelings and don't try to change them. Your emotions signal your beliefs and perceptions.
(We'll speak more about how to change states of emotion next month)
3. Things to notice: The pressure? What are you or other people doing? What do you believe and feel about what is happening.
Your task this month is to remain conscious. Let go of the need to 'DO' anything. Just use the steps above to practice awareness.
If you're in the fire already, this
stress self awareness exercise will assist you to immediately identify trigger points. (Scroll down down to the bottom of the page.)
Write in and share your experiences or articles about making conscious decisions and self awareness.
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