How to Discover Self Awareness - By: Willie Horton

Awareness and, in particular, self awareness is the key to your happiness and success. Indeed, if you cast your eye over many personal development and self help books and articles, you will find that awareness is a prerequisite to changing your life. But what is awareness? There are literally hundreds if not thousands of years of writing and scholarship devoted to the subject but, unfortunately, more often than not, they complicate what is something that is essentially very simple. And, as if there weren't enough confusion, bear in mind that awareness, from a psychological perspective, is completely foreign to the normal mind which is, at best, unaware, at worst, completely mindless. As a result, awareness can appear to be some ideal state of mind that, because you've never experienced, you believe to be virtually unattainable. But, like many things in life, if you strip away all the scholarship and hype, you will discover that awareness couldn't be simpler. In order to discover this, simply ask yourself the following question: "How do I feel right now?" The answer will surprise ' and not only will it provide you with a major insight, it will open a world filled with opportunity.

Noticing how you're feeling is not the first step on the road to awareness, it's the only step - if done in a mindful manner. By that I mean that you don't take your perceived emotions at face value - you realize and experience how your state of mind is effecting you. You take a few moments to actually experience how it feels - or how you think it feels - to be you right now. So, stop whatever your doing for five minutes and ask yourself that question. Maybe you feel relaxed, joyful, stress-free and healthy. More likely, though, if you're normal, you'll probably find that one or more of the following applies: stressed, annoyed, frustrated, tired, irritable, anxious, worried, hassled, confused, helpless, fearful... The psychological fact is that, if you're feeling any of these things, you're living in the land of make believe - your own subconscious mind is making you believe that you're feeling that way.

The normal mind is unaware. In short, we give almost no attention to what is actually going on right now and, as a result, the reality of life passes us by. What your subconscious mind does is quite different. Using it's 'stored knowledge' to re-evaluate what is really happening, it places a completely different comlexion on them. Sadly, generally speaking, we learned our stored knowledge when we were young children. As a result, our perspective on current events, difficult people, life's challenges, the stress we think we're suffering etc. bears no comparison to what is really happening - it is simply our incorrect perception of events. What you must realize is that it is not real life that stresses you out or worries you - it's what you subconsciously believe about life, in other words, your own personal reality that is causing the problem.

You've got to break this cycle of taking what's currently happening, adding your stored knowledge to the mix and coming up with something that not only is different from what is actually going on but is some warped version of reality that causes you to automatically react and make things even worse than you thought they already were! You've got to become aware. And the best way of doing that is by asking yourself the simple question: "How do I feel right now?" Get in touch with how you're feeling emotionally - really experience how it feels to be who your are in this present moment. Discover what you can actually feel with your body - sweep the palm of your hand along the clothes you're wearing or run your fingers through your hair. Feel how warm or cold you are. Notice your feet in your shoes or on the floor - or scrunch your bare toes through the sand or grass. Really feel the warmth of the sun on your back, the gentle breeze on your face or the heat from the crackling fire. Get in touch with now. Hear what it's like to be you right now. Listen to your breathing. If you can hear nothing, don't worry, you're not dead! Just take a couple of deep breaths until you can hear it. Hear the sounds around you - the coffee brewing, the waves lapping on the shore, the chirping of the birds, the hum of the cars on the road, the noise of the television in the background.

And interpret nothing - put an end to the habitual behaviour of interpreting things in your own warped way. Just feel and listen - get in touch we reality. If you open your eyes to the reality of where you are and what you're doing right now and contrast this with how you think you feel, you will realize that the real world is quite different from where you thought you were living. In this moment there are no problems or worries because all these things, like everything in life, pass away. To prove this, ask yourself this: "What was I worrying about this day last year?" - or even last week! Life's stresses, strains and ups and downs are nothing more that waves on which you ebb and flow - you must master the art of riding those waves instead of letting them overwhelm you. You will discover how to effortlessly ride those waves by getting in touch - feeling and hearing - the real reality of the present moment - by becoming aware.

Once you become aware of this powerful insight, you'll also begin to observe something else. There are things going on before your very eyes that you couldn't see up to now because you were blinded by your own subconscious useless thoughts. Normal people call these things coincidences or opportunities. Open your eyes and you'll notice that you're surrounded by them!

Copyright (c) 2011 Willie Horton

About the Author

Willie Horton launched his now acclaimed Personal Development Seminars in 1996. His clients include Pfizer, Deloitte, Nestle, KPMG, G4S & Allergan. His Personal Development Workshops are now online, together with hundreds or 'quick tip' articles and videos, at Gurdy.Net, Willie's Personal Development Website.

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