Awareness
Each one of us is fully capable of accomplishing anything, and more importantly, everything we put our mind to. We have desires, dreams, and ambitions for our time here. Accomplishing them is no easy task, but we are aptly suited for our challenge. We truly have limitless potential residing inside. It’s lying dormant, desperately waiting for us to set the wheels in motion, enabling it to crack through the surface where it can be put to use in our pursuits.
At times there can be a disconnect between our desires, dreams, and ambitions, and our current reality or perception of it. Life happens, and we can feel as if our feet are stuck in wet concrete. Each step or movement forward increasing in difficulty, until it feels as if the change we seek will never come. We are working 40 plus hours a week, we have personal and familial commitments, we’re tired, we’re making a lot of sacrifices, but deep down, we still want to finish that race, apply for the promotion, lose those last few pounds, or take that yoga class. Under these circumstances, we can feel as if there’s no forward momentum toward our ambitions, and our desire starts to fizzle out. In these moments, action is what will propel us forward on the path toward realizing our potential and everything that comes with it. Finding our ability to act within our present situation is the key to taking the first steps, moving us toward where we desire to go.
Awareness is the foundational building block upon which all action is built. Without awareness, we are subject to the conditions we are exposed to. We are but a leaf in the wind and will go where it blows us or where someone else directs us. It is only our awareness which enables us to act. If someone were to toss you a tennis ball, yet you are unaware, pending their skill the ball will either hit or pass you by. Without your awareness of it traveling toward you, you have no ability to act on that reality, and catch it. The same is true of anything in life. We are only able to act once we are aware something is taking place. Subsequently, we are only able to change our reality once we become aware we are walking through wet concrete. This is a truth within both our physical actions and our mental processes. Until we are aware there is something we wish to change or something we wish to do, we will continue the same patterns of behavior and our situation will remain unchanged. Awareness is the spark that lights the flame of change, propelling us on the path toward achieving our desires, dreams, and ambitions.
Once we have begun to develop and hone our awareness of the things we say to ourselves, how we feel about our self and where we are presently at in life, along with what drives our actions, we are better able to understand where exactly we have the ability to act. In those situations, when we begin to recognize the things we are telling our self or how we feel about something is what is impacting our actions, our awareness allows us to act. From there, we can then begin to change our narrative and our perspective to be more facilitative, enabling us to get back on the path toward our desires, dreams, and ambitions.
Strategies for Developing Our Awareness:
Meditation – taking deliberate time to sit with yourself and quiet your mind from the limitless
distractions it is exposed to
Daily Check-Ins – pausing throughout the day to check-in with yourself and note what you are
thinking about, how you feel, and how this is impacting your actions
Reflecting – looking back on a situation that did not turn out the way you had hoped; reserving
judgement for yourself, and asking what led to the decision, where your focus was, what you were saying to yourself, and how you felt when deciding to act as you did
