Self Awareness

Self Awareness

Self awareness is not a static concept of “who I am”, but a forward-thinking journey to comprehend one’s roots.

Our greatest adversary in life is ourselves

As adults, we are on a quest to learn and express our true nature. We are what we are in part due to the dominant concepts that we gather in our heads, as well as all of the beliefs, actions, and paths that we pursue to improve ourselves.

Self awareness has a liberating effect

Society frequently provides programs or formulae to follow to be supposedly successful, but this ignores the fact that we are all unique individuals and that not everything works for everyone.

Self-awareness is liberating because it allows us to comprehend our physical and mental capabilities and infer what we like and dislike. Self awareness prevents us from becoming robots.

Which is preferable:

appreciation of others or appreciation of oneself? 

Which is more important, appreciating possessions or valuing oneself?

Which is worse, having more or having less?

The more you have, the more you have to lose.

The more you value things, the less you value yourself.

The more you rely on others for approval, the less self-sufficient you are.

The pursuit of self awareness results in freedom

Ours seems to be a life of self-examination: a day-by-day peeling away of ourselves.

It gets easier for us as humans as we investigate ourselves more and more, and the questions become more numerous.

And we can see more and more clearly.

It is not a matter of developing what has been created, but restoring what has been lost.

That has always been a part of us and has never been lost or altered except by our misguided manipulation.

“The wise man is concerned with the inner self rather than its outer appearance.”

The deeper we go within, the more our true nature can be seen on the outside.

The more we understand our inner essence, the more we may live in harmony with nature and everything around us.

Here are a few good questions to ask yourself to determine where you truly are on your journey to self-knowledge and to ensure that your self-knowledge exercise does not lead you only to feeding your ego.

What is your level of contentment and happiness?

How happy are you at each moment?

Do you feel free?

Do you have peace of mind?

Take action:

Look at your relationships and review them. What is their quality like?

Can you maintain them? Or are you going through them in a cycle?

Look at your friendships, intimate relationships, colleagues, neighbours, and casual relationships, and rate the relationships and your satisfaction with them.

What are the areas where you are confused?

Where do you feel lost or resentful?

Look at them objectively and ask yourself what you don’t know about them.

Take it one step at a time, one problem at a time.

Put together a list of your strengths and weaknesses – both are great teachers.

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Text by Myriam Speich

Photo by Laurence Cabantous @lau_cabantous