Becoming Self Aware...A Continuation

                                   

Some more on the Why and How of it:

Why

Apart from the metaphysical or esoteric goal of knowing oneself, there’s also a very down to earth, here and now plus in being self aware. It lends itself to a greater degree of Authenticity, Focus, Growth and Peace.

‘Accept what you cannot change, Change what you cannot accept and have the Wisdom to know the difference’….…it’s what enables that needed Discernment or Wisdom.

Somehow, most of us kind of totally miss one big obvious facet of this. Acceptance does not mean putting up with crap. Accept that it is crap and deal with it as such. I've seen this happen, had it happen, in almost self flagellating.......martyrish manners .....by saying I've mastered acceptance. Where there is the Wisdom then? 

                                                  

How

We read 5 ways in an earlier post.  To get to a more practice-on-the-go way, an imbibed level, here's what has really worked, or rather continues to work for me;

Watch yourself. Step back from situations and actually watch yourself. And the best learning time is soon after extremes...... like when you’re really happy or really upset. Spend some time figuring out what enabled that shift into each of those modes.

With a little practice, you’ll soon be able to identify the exact trigger for the shift;  be aware that the trigger could be emanating from another, from within you or from the space in between. Once we become aware of those triggers, and the reactions they evoke, you know which ones you're happy to keep and which you don’t want. And by don't, it basically means dealing with it. Identify the emotion,........ rationalize with it and more importantly, do what needs to be done.

Here I have a small quirky tip; don't blindly throw out all that's upsetting you, sometimes your biggest and deepest learning's might come from first understanding why it's upsetting you. Be warned....this would directly be proportionate to your appetite for the abstract :)

Instinct and conditioning typically evoke the emotion; and its the intellect that can deal with it. Make this a practice, and as with anything acquired, practice makes perfect. Ok, you may never get to perfect, but you'll surely find that 'more often' and 'more quickly', you'll get out of those negative spaces.....it's a process, and soon it’s an automatic growth story. 

Li Lu, a co-leader of the Tiananmen Square student demonstration and today a highly respected investor, apparently had a practice he followed for years, inspired by Benjamin Franklin. Franklin kept a “balance sheet” of both the assets and liabilities of his personal traits. By diarizing any new strength he believed he could learn from someone else, and marking down any self-perceived weaknesses, he could better assess whether the “net worth” of his character was growing over time.

It’s actually simpler than it sounds.

The intellect which is rational, capable and efficient is also as easily irrational, neurotic, conditioned and illogical. This is where you use awareness to watch which one you’re using more of. Try it....... and the icing on the cake? It's actually a fun process !!