Awareness: Why is Being Aware So Vitally Important?

Why is Awareness Such an Important Thing to Have?

Meditation helps one become more self-aware, which is one of its primary benefits. Before the 1970s, self-awareness was more of an abstract term than anything else.

Shelley Duval and Robert Wicklund, two prominent psychologists of the period, were responsible for defining and further developing the connection between actions and ideas.

If we had a better grasp of our internal processes, we would have a better understanding of why we act the way we do in specific situations.

This sparked more research, which ultimately led to the discovery that humans are capable of monitoring our thoughts and emotions in real time.

The great majority of our inner lives are hidden away in the subconscious, which is located below the level of our waking awareness.

The patterns that govern our lives were established long ago, and in some cases, even before we were born. It’s possible that when you were born, the first thing that came out of your parents’ mouths was, “Here, my future surgeon.”

As you were growing up, there were a lot of expectations placed on you, and there was a clear route ahead for your career.

First you get good schools, then excellent grades, then the greatest college, and finally you get into medical school.

After a certain amount of time had passed, there would first be an acceptable husband, then a nice home, and then two gorgeous children who were also well-behaved.

If this is our internal plan, we may not challenge it at any point in the future. It’s possible that we aren’t even completely conscious that this has been our route ever since birth.

It’s almost as if we’ve been moving along on some kind of automatic pilot, and all we’ve done is tag along for the journey.

When we reach the age of 30, if we allow ourselves to go into a depressive mood, we become completely perplexed. We were able to make our dream come true. Why would anything like this happen?

There are numerous different ways in which our minds might be conditioned. Through the practice of attentive meditation, we are able to identify recurring patterns of behavior.

Because of this understanding, we are able to take the very first step toward effecting change in a proactive manner. We are now in a position to make decisions.

There are an infinite number of situations in which our programming completely sidesteps our inner selves. We are not independent people; rather, we are the product of someone else’s imagination.

Because our ideas and emotions are hidden so deeply, we are no longer conscious of them. Unless you include the fact that we are conscious on some level.

But it’s possible that the only indication we have is anger, despair, or maybe just a numbing numbness.

We find ourselves losing interest in activities that used to thrill us and sabotaging our relationships on purpose because, if we do these things, we will at least have a rational explanation for why we are feeling so terrible.

Maybe we resort to booze and drugs.

There is no easy way to achieve self-awareness. However, when we practice mindful meditation and investigate new ideas and sensations, this acts as a road map to other options and possibilities.

Look around you if you want a hint as to how consciousness, or the absence of it, impacts behavior. You’ll find it everywhere.

Do you have a buddy who is always having money problems but yet goes shopping at the mall every weekend to purchase more shoes and cosmetics even if they can’t afford it?

Do you have a coworker who routinely picks fights with other people and demeans them, yet he can’t understand why he doesn’t have any friends?

The connection that exists between a person’s ideas and actions is very evident. People go through life as if it were a dream and act on pure instinct.

They are not in control of their thoughts or emotions, and as a result, they are unable to exercise control over their conduct. Their emotions have complete reign over them.

The Development of a Positive Attitude and Perspective is Facilitated by Awareness

If we want to make progress, increasing awareness is critical for a number of reasons, including the following: The actions of the past continue to haunt many of us.

A few of us become obsessed with thinking about them. Anger and bitterness have the potential to consume our thoughts to the point that there is little place for anything else.

Studies have shown that our recollections of the past aren’t always accurate representations of the present or past. When we were in school, we could have been the targets of some bullying.

Not just the bullying itself but also the feelings of humiliation, rage, and powerlessness that were a part of the event are what stick out in our memories.

When we think back on the bullying, the sensations of discomfort are what come to mind first and foremost. This may have a huge impact on how we see ourselves as well as how we act toward other people.

Maybe we are paralyzed by guilt and feel as if we have no value, or maybe we feed off of rage and start bullying others before they have a chance to abuse us.

Both of these possibilities are possible. These actions eventually turn into habits, and when we do them, we do them without even thinking about why we do them.

Sadly, the majority of individuals live their lives as though they are shackled to a script. The dialogue for these screenplays may be created while we are children, and we spend our lives responding to hints that have been set up.

When you were younger, did others make fun of your intelligence, your appearance, or your awkwardness? It might have been 20 or 30 years since you were classified, and the person(s) who did so may no longer be alive.

Nevertheless, their voices continue to echo in your head, regardless of whether you are consciously aware of them or not. When you tell yourself, “I can’t do this,” you are setting yourself up for failure.

Why go through the trouble? When you tell yourself things like, “No one important will ever love me,” your mind plays a script that directs your behavior.

The way that you are now traveling was determined a very long time ago. Even though the band has stopped playing, you are still dancing to the music as if it were still playing.

It’s possible that as you grow more conscious of the script for your life, it may look like a case of mistaken identification.

You can feel it in every cell of your body: “But that’s not who I am!” Regardless of the pattern you’ve followed, it has brought you farther and farther away from your essential self.

This might be a very distressing truth to face. In the same breath, it has the potential to be the linchpin that unlocks a lifetime’s worth of mental shackles.

The more you practice mindful meditation, the more you will see the reasoning behind the choices you’ve made in the past, and the more you will be able to create a new, more fulfilling script for your life.

A change in one’s life is never too late. In point of fact, practicing mindfulness meditation makes it simpler to relax our mental defenses and acknowledge the legitimacy of other, maybe uncharted courses of action.

Through the practice of mindful meditation, you may become more conscious of the critical internal conversation that directs your actions.

It is both exhilarating and hard to have the option to modify the life script you have been living and open doors to better, more life-affirming choices. However, the rewards are always worthwhile.

There is a risk that certain aspects of the newly gained knowledge may cause you to feel uneasy. We have a common humanity.

We’ve all been impolite to others or done things that we regret and would prefer not to dwell on. And here comes mindful meditation, which is going to force us to face conduct that we’d prefer not to remember.

At first glance, it could seem terrifying.

The Power of Mindful Meditation to Break Unhealthy Patterns

To paraphrase what Dr. Phil has said many times, “You can’t alter what you don’t recognize.” The undesirable habit will persist as long as you avoid confronting it.

If you want to make progress in your life, denial is a luxury you just can’t afford to indulge in. In fact, the situation will only get more precarious.

Be conscious of the fact that it is never too late to make a change. It is necessary to muster up some bravery every now and then.

Because this is such an important topic, it is worth restating. “You can’t alter what you don’t recognize,” said Benjamin Franklin. To improve oneself and become a better version of oneself, change is sometimes required but not always simple.

There are other kinds of meditation that encourage us to push negative ideas away, as if we were trying to get rid of uninvited guests who were being a nuisance.

In essence, what they are saying is that you are the product of your ideas. You have most likely experienced the consequences of thinking “bad” ideas. “I am a depraved human being.”

You consider your ideas to be an extension of yourself. This bestows incredible power on a single idea in particular.

The flaw in that line of reasoning is that your ideas do not constitute who you are. You could be someone who has committed a wrongdoing, but that does not make you a morally repugnant person.

When we make an effort to change, the distinction is quite important.

The “bad” notion itself is not the primary source of the issue. In and of themselves, thoughts have no value.

When we work toward increasing our level of consciousness, one of the challenges we face is the tendency to fight against the acceptance of negative thoughts.

This just serves to amplify their potency and hinders us from investigating them in a manner that is aware and free of judgment.

When we begin to judge ourselves negatively, such as by calling ourselves lazy or bad, we are acknowledging that our whole being can be summed up in a single word.

When this occurs, we take steps to verify that the description given of the act is accurate. When applied, labels may become prophetic. We are lazy and engage in poor behavior.

The practice of mindful meditation raises awareness of this potentially harmful kind of self-labeling. It enables us to observe our ideas in an objective manner, independent from ourselves, and to start the process of questioning the veracity of any label.

Behavior is never fixed in stone. When you question the validity of your labels, you’ll notice a difference in how you behave.

If you practice mindfulness, the next time you get the idea that you are a nasty person, you will be able to interrupt the thought as it is occurring. Tell yourself, “Here we go again with that ridiculous term.” This is not the person that I am.

The practice of mindful meditation enables us to become aware of the labels we have assigned to ourselves. We are able to take actions that lessen the impact of labels on people if we have knowledge that is not judgmental.