Awake and dream!
Are you self-conscious, unconscious or fully conscious? Are you somewhere in between? The truth is that we have all been in each of these states before, many times in our lives. The question is, where are you right now? What state of mind are you in right now? Some people don’t fully understand how much our frame of mind colors our life and shapes the quality of our days on this earth. In my point of view, the focus of our consciousness (or awareness) can almost completely define the life that we live and therefore it is the most important thing that we can learn how to influence within our lives.
Many things to learn from Star Wars there are, and one of them is that “your focus determines your reality” (George Lucas). For instance, being in a self-conscious frame of mind robs us of the enjoyment that could be had right now. It also keeps us from fully expressing our own genius and gifts, in whatever capacity they exist. In my youth, I was extremely self-conscious and I was always worried about what others thought of me and what I saw as my poor attempts at group activities, humor, music, and even just personal conversation and interaction. The truth was that my self-image was way off the mark and simply not true. I found out later that people saw me as entertaining, a good friend, an accomplished musician and a “cool guy.” Runaway self-consciousness is a poison to our life if we allow it to take control and hold us back because of fear. It is a strange combination of self-importance (because “everyone is looking at me”) and false humility. In short, if I would have allowed my fear and “self-consciousness” to rule over me, I would never have been able to speak in front of crowds, teach martial arts classes and language classes, or work in an environment that demands constant interaction with people to lead them to healing. I would say that, if we desire the optimal life, we should seek to replace our self-consciousness with “consciousness of self.” In a practical way, this would entail replacing the thought that (whether expressed or not) “I am not enough and everyone can see that” with a resting awareness of where we are and what we are doing in the moment along with the active question: “Am I aligned with my ideals right now? How is what I am doing effecting those around me?” This is what I have sought to do more and more in my own life since I became aware of my strong self-conscious tendencies and their negative effect on my existence.
Another state that we may be in is unconsciousness. Do not confuse this with The Unconscious in Jungian psychology or the subconscious mind that lies below the surface of our conscious mind. No, I am speaking of a personal lack of the awareness of something. The unconscious person does not have an active awareness of what they are doing in the moment. They may be on autopilot, they may be doing one thing and yet thinking of one or many other things. The are basically asleep while in waking life. Unconsciousness spells T-R-O-U-B-L-E for many things in our personal lives like relationships (especially relationships with people close to us) as well as for relationships between nations and groups. The state of unconsciousness is a state where anything can and does happen because there is a blind spot or an unawareness of something... And that something is often very important. The state of unconsciousness can be compared to the state of sleepwalking; movement is there but there’s nobody home. It can take the form of being so wrapped up in your own thoughts that you do not notice something or someone that should’ve caught your attention. It can also take the form of blind anger or rage, whether for no real reason or sometimes even for some supposedly good reason. Unconsciousness is the state of mind that can eventually bring about hatred, fights, feuds and even wars. There are many varied things that contribute to unconsciousness… tribalistic patterns of thinking, inherited prejudice, even excessive alcohol or any type of drugs that are “downers.” The things that make us more unconscious have the potential to make us more violent, more angry, more blind to our issues, more apathetic, more “stuck in a rut.” If you find yourself caught in unconsciousness, that is a good thing! That means you are waking up!
If you are awakening from unconsciousness or self-consciousness, you will desire to start to realize your individual potential as a human being. It is time to wake up and start dreaming! Dream of your potential, dream of your abilities, dream of the possibilities… Who do you want to be? What do you want to do? What do you want in your life? What do you want out of your life? Will you work for it? Is it important enough to work for?
What will you create in your life? I’d love to hear from you. Please comment below and if this post was helpful to you in any way, if you think it could help others or if you just enjoyed reading it could you please upvote and resteem?
Thank you and all the best to you!