Cultivating Awareness: The Sure Path to Reaching The Top
Illustration by ~wretchedharmony-lina
Imagine being out amongst the sky and mountains casting your line into a turquoise lake, yet having no way of knowing when it is tugged on by a fish. That’s how we are sometimes, because we lack awareness.
You’re not going to catch fish, nor accomplish your goals, if you don’t have the requisite awareness. With awareness comes success.
There are many factors that increase our awareness. Some are the results of strategies we employ, while others are the outcome of having tried and failed multiple times. Both are valid and necessary in this journey we call life.
What is Awareness?
Awareness is knowing your capability. When you realize what you’re made of, and what you can do, you are then able to do it. It’s that simple.
Have you ever heard the line, “You can accomplish anything you put your mind to”? Perhaps the reason this phrase is so often cited, is because it is rooted in such truth. Part of awareness is taking your mind and putting it to your objective. When your mind has drifted from your objective, you have lost the awareness you need to fulfill your goal.
One strategy to increasing awareness is focusing on what will bring you long term happiness and satisfaction. Too often, we fall into the trap of instant gratification at the peril of what we want to accomplish; at what will make us happy over the long term. Being happy for a few minutes can never compare to happiness spread out over the years of our lives.
Increasing Awareness of Long Term Happiness
If a blind person was told he had to eat a certain way to regain his sight, do you think he would succeed? If one day he was walking by the bakery, would he take a double take, then finally walk right in and buy himself a giant chocolate chip cookie for that minute and a half of fleeting pleasure?
There’s not a way in the world he would, because the promise of having sight would give him clarity of mind. He would want his vision to return so badly, that it would be easy to overlook the sumptuous cookie. That my friend; that’s awareness.
Awareness is knowing what you want, why you want it, and respecting yourself enough to follow through. Remember, you can accomplish anything you put your mind to, but it is you and you alone who can decide to put it in the direction you know is best. In the words of Lu Yan from the movie, The Forbidden Kingdom:
“The true master dwells within - only you can free him.”
Failing can Lead to Greater Awareness
As noted earlier, using strategy is one way to increase awareness. The other is failure.
Confucius says, “Our greatest glory is not in never falling, but in rising every time we fall.”
Have you ever heard of the guy who got cut again and again trying out for the basketball team, then one day finally makes it and becomes an outstanding player? How about the person who went on this diet and that diet yet still managed to gain weight. Then one day, their awareness of what they wanted became so deep, they began to stick to their diet with such intensity; that nothing above, nor below, could shake them of their regiment. As a result, their goal was accomplished.
Failure, or being pushed to the brink, can often spring board us to the level of awareness we need to get our act together. Hopefully, our level of awareness will increase enough before things get out of hand. Nevertheless, allowing awareness to bubble up at any time on the journey is always of boundless value.
Do you have something in your life that you’re trying to get a handle of? Something you’ve been dealing with time and again, yet can’t seem to get over that hump?
What do you want?
Why do you want it?
What will it take to get there?
Is the alternative worth the price?
Answer these questions and carry them wherever you go. I can assure you, when the fish comes to bite on the end of your line, you will no longer be sleeping. You’ll reel it in, because you can.
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October 13th, 2008 at 12:48 am
Hi Bamboo Forest. I loved your fishing analogy. I’m trying to get a handle on relationships. I’m past the age of 40 and still haven’t found the “right” man. I don’t “have” to have a man to complete me as they say, but it sure would be nice to have a special someone to share the rest of my life with. But… I haven’t given up hope yet. I count my blessings living the single life too.
October 13th, 2008 at 1:34 am
I love the questions at the end of your post. They’re a wonderful tool for clarifying things. There’s something scary about self-awareness… what if I discover something about myself that I don’t like? But anything else would be living a lie.
October 13th, 2008 at 1:47 am
Awareness, to me, is about being conscious of the state I am. The state I am in is largely dependent on the choices I have made. If I am feeling lousy, I must have obviously chosen to feel that way. On the other hand, if I am feeling joyful, I must have chosen to look at things from a more positive and loving lens.
October 13th, 2008 at 1:54 am
@ Davina: Glad you haven’t given up hope. There is infinite possibility.
@ Vered: I’ve never thought about it that way. At the end of the day, only you can know what’s best for you, your life, and your loved ones. I suppose if you discover something about yourself you don’t like, you can change it. I’m trying to do that to myself, all the time!
@ Evelyn Lim: Well said Evelyn. I agree with you. We do choose our mental state and thus our emotions. In fact, learning to control our emotions is one of the great tests of life, I surmise at least. I think the concept of awareness can be applied in many ways.
October 13th, 2008 at 4:52 am
Wassup Bamboo?? Thanks for the comment. Yeh, I’ve seen awesome places. I love California now–especially southern California. It really is everything people make it out to be.
October 13th, 2008 at 6:54 am
Awareness is accepting the present moment, with chaos and all, but consciously chose the positive outcome. This is something I will have to work on: “respecting yourself enough to follow through.”
October 13th, 2008 at 12:35 pm
I love that Confucius quote. We only fall so that we can learn to get up. The questions at the end of the post are questions I ask myself all the time. It is so important to be mindful of what we want, or we will never, ever get there.
October 13th, 2008 at 1:42 pm
Insightful article. I used to be a purist when it came to believing that we could do anything we put our minds too. I really thought I could do anything. Then, as allude to, failure comes along like a chain-saw wielding ex-girlfriend, slashing our hopes and dreams. She gives us perspective, and then moves in, and then demands we make her breakfast in bed. We’re given awareness by our failures, which are nothing more than reminders of our weaknesses. After that, it’s a simple matter of fixing those weaknesses, and by simple I mean monumental.
October 13th, 2008 at 4:48 pm
@ Phillip: It really is a nice place, definitely. And your sentiment about the climate, well - is true.
@ BC Doan: Nice perspective. Acceptance is often of the greatest value.
@ Writer Dad: True about why we should be mindful of what we want. I can’t say it better.
@ Oktober Five: Perhaps we really can do anything we put our minds too (in a sense). But, we have to learn how to tap into it. Mistakes lead us into that knowledge.
Good point about being reminded of our weaknesses. Those reminders often compel us to fix them, and turn them into strengths.
October 13th, 2008 at 9:21 pm
I know that at least for me, I knew what I wanted but never gave permission to have it. Awareness is the seed of that permission, of allowing.
ari
October 13th, 2008 at 9:25 pm
Thanks for posting this. I needed to hear it.
October 13th, 2008 at 9:56 pm
Thanks! I’m gonna study instead of stumble now. Well…at least for today. (:
October 13th, 2008 at 10:52 pm
Hi Bamboo: This reminds me of the Silva Mind Control course I took many years ago. The instructor told us to hold our breaths for as long as we could, and then he said: “Do you know when you’ll get what you want? When you want it as badly as you wanted to take a breath just now”. It’s so true that we need to put our focus on what we want.
October 14th, 2008 at 8:10 pm
@ Ari: That is a good application of awareness.
@ Tabbie: Glad it was of value.
@ Gator: Hey, that’s a good choice!
@ Marelisa: That’s a good illustration. I do think the degree we want something is very important. There is no magic wand to make it easy.
October 15th, 2008 at 1:08 pm
I agree with Ari in that sometimes there are things holding us back, be they not giving ourselves permission, believing in a false sense of inadequacy, not feeling worthy enough, self sabotage from fear of success or failure, etc. Awareness of those helps us address them and move on to the top. I have also found the awareness levels in the Enneagram personality types very helpful in moving me forward.
October 15th, 2008 at 7:02 pm
I find myself asking question no. 3 all the time. what will it take for me to get there. maybe i SHOULD keep that question with me at all times. this does make sense to me. if that question is always before me, my actions should reflect the answer.
October 16th, 2008 at 1:46 pm
Nice illustration.
Bamboo, this is such an inspiring post! I really needed to read this today. It really stirred my heart - I think that’s stumble-worthy!!!
*smiles*
Michele
October 16th, 2008 at 6:37 pm
@ Michele: Thank you. I am amazed by the artists illustration. Thank you for the kind words and the stumble.
October 17th, 2008 at 4:25 am
Bamboo Forest,
Your thoughts are provoking for sure. Awareness reminds me of looking at 3D pictures…all of a sudden, the perspective changes and you no longer see things the same. Thanks
October 17th, 2008 at 1:28 pm
@SpaceAgeSage: I think it comes down to believing in our abilities. You can’t act upon what you don’t know is intimately there. If you don’t feel worthy enough, you lack an understanding of what’s truly there.
@ Natural: I do think a steady focus in a positive direction can be very helpful.
@ Harmony: Glad you found this article helpful.