Not So Common Sense, Lesson 2: How to Excel at Being Human

"The fact is, we are human. We are the ones standing upright and using our minds to create reality as we know it. Whether we like that reality or not is a result of excelling or failing at being human." --Jacquelyne

Why Excel at Being Human?

If it's not obvious, I'd like to point out the relative health and mental/emotional states of those people we see as "doing it right." While some people hide their internal process fairly well, sooner or later we will find out just how "human" they really are.

Our internal process is the source of our health and happiness. We may appear to have it all together, but is that true? If we really want to excel at being human, it isn't about appearing that way. Rather, we want to experience daily health and happiness, yes?

To experience daily health and happiness there are two options. Either you stay blissfully unaware of your health and avoid stressing about your negative thoughts, which only works until you are about 22 years old, unless you have some kind of condition. Or, your become aware of your capabilities and learn to master the art of being human.

Well, what are our capabilities?

For one, we create our reality by thinking about who we are in relationship to the world. If we think we are stupid or ugly, we live life as if that is true. It doesn't matter if the whole world disagrees. We constantly compare ourselves to those around us, and if they are even just a little bit fatter than us we feel better about ourselves.

Is this what it means to excel? To compare ourselves to the other humans who may or may not being doing it right?

We are capable of infinite thought. Our reality is dependent on those thoughts, our capacity to excel is determined by them. So, the first step in excelling at being human is...

You must become aware of your self-judgement.

(Here's a picture of me judging myself...big difference, huh! I made it black and white to dramatize the mood, but it's in the eyes)

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My 4 Step Process to Excel at Being Human

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You already know the first step is to become aware of your self-judgement. But, let me say it again, because this is the most important step. Without this awareness you are likely to end up sabotaging your health and happiness due to a lack of understanding about the role you play in your own reality.
That said...

Step One : Be Aware
You Know.... what I've been talking about... Be aware of your self-judgement. Notice when you are critical.. Notice when you tell your self stories about yourself. "What an idiot! Why did you say that. Your dumb, that's why. You suck and nobody loves you, you're going to be alone forever and die a failure."

Wow, did you hear yourself! Would you talk to your mother like that? I hope not. So why do we talk to ourselves this way ALL DAY LONG? It gets worse...

When you tell yourself these stories all day you start to REALLY believe them. Then you start behaviing that way. You get insecure, anti-social, start gaming at 8am, forget to eat or brush your teeth. You stop caring about yourself because you think you aren't worth the energy.

And then what happens? No one else thinks you worth their energy, and you make yourself right. Great job.

Self-judgement that brings you down has to stop. So, the first step in any program is letting go of denial... become aware.

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Step Two : Have Compassion

Notice, compassion is the opposite of self-judgement. Just to be clear ;)

Give yourself some love, some credit for getting as far as you have given you upbringing, societal programming, injuries, traumas, and history of brokenness.

Having compassion means you can forgive yourself for being human, for going through challenges and not always coming up on top. It means you love yourself anyway.

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Step Three : Be Grateful

It's easy to complain. It's easy to get mad and react to your environment. It's EASY to fail, give up, and feel sorry for yourself. Do you think reactionary behavior based on external circumstance will ever help you excel at being human? I hope not.

Live in an attitude of gratitude, my grandma always says. She is my guru.

Being grateful is key to navigating the chaos in our lives with grace and ease. Thus, a major component of excelling at being human is gratitude. It enables you to show up happy and healthy in just about any situation! Why? Because, you are grateful for everything! Your grateful for the good, the bad, and the ugly... knowing it all is here for your benefit at some level.

This philosophy of being grateful and believing things happen for your benefit may or may not require spiritual beliefs. That's up to you. But, whatever you believe, make sure it's actually making you feel good about who you are. Otherwise, I suggest tossing your beliefs about your Source of origin, and taking up something entirely different... you know, just to try it out.

Living moment to moment in gratitude is the quickest way to start excelling at being human, bar none. But, there's more...

Step Four : Act

While being human is great, if you don't take advantage of your capabilities while in this body... there's really no sense in being here, except to suffer. And we don't want that do we?

The last step in mastering the human experience is to act. Act on your compassion and gratitude. Give back, show up to life.
Live in action. Don't sit around and hope things will change, get better, or happen for you. Act on your inspirations out of the abundance of compassion and gratitude you have for yourself and others.

VIOLA! Follow these steps daily and just watch yourself excel!

You are only human, yes, but you a capable of a lot more than you may know.