It\u2019s the age of technology, the dawn of mindless disconnect from not only human contact but also our own bodies. There\u2019s a reason that drug and alcohol abuse is rampant and so many of us are medicated for mental illness. We\u2019re all just lost sheep, as a society we\u2019ve forgotten how to be one.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Who am I? Who are you? Who are we?<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n Self-awareness can be defined as \u201cthe ability to take an honest look at your life without attachment to it being right or wrong.\u201d<\/strong> It\u2019s knowing who you are, what you feel, and what you desire. You might call it your \u201cgut,\u201d intuition, or sixth sense. Personally, I like to refer to it as my \u201cwise mind.\u201d Self-awareness means paying attention to yourself, not just the messages your body sends, but also what the world around you is saying to you.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Many of us have flipped the switch, pulled the plug, tried to build a wall to prevent the ability to be self-aware. So, how can we get that back? How can we reconnect with ourselves and gain awareness of ourselves?<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n You may think that you don\u2019t have many emotions throughout a day, but you do\u2026 you\u2019ve just become numb to them. So, it\u2019s time to start recognizing emotions when they come to you and give them names. When someone cuts you off on the interstate, instead of honking your horn or raising that middle finger, first say, \u201cI feel angry,\u201d or \u201cI am angry because of what just happened.\u201d You don\u2019t have to fully explore it to start with, just labeling the feelings will allow you to gain awareness of that emotion when it hits you again. If you are feeling really ambitious or are still into the bullet journaling trend, try tracking your emotions each day and reviewing them in the evening.<\/p>\n\n\n\n One of the largest obstacles to living in the present is clinging to thoughts, especially memories of the past or fears for the future. The only place you can have an impact on your life is the here and now, so it\u2019s time to practice letting go of those thoughts that are preventing you from embracing the moment. A great trick to allow you to realize when you are becoming buried in thought is to label each thought as it enters your mind, then, if it isn\u2019t beneficial to the current moment, send it down the conveyor belt and out of your mind. So, if you are at work and you start wondering what\u2019s for dinner, instead of getting lost in trying to remember what\u2019s in the fridge or what won\u2019t upset your stomach after you eat that burrito for lunch, just say, \u201cfuture thought,\u201d or \u201cthought about home,\u201d and push it to the side. You\u2019ll find your productivity and mood both positively impacted as you become more aware of your thoughts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The first line of the Serenity Prayer says, \u201cGrant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change.\u201d Yet, it is human nature to try to control everything, even that which we cannot control or change. Self-awareness means recognizing the difference between what is within your control and what is outside of the realm of your abilities. Realizing when you cannot change something, be it other people, particular work situations, or environmental factors, and allowing yourself to accept this will relieve stress and fill you with a greater sense of purpose in that which you can impact or change.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Words like \u201cgood\u201d and \u201cbad\u201d have become such commonplace in our lives, meaning we are constantly passing judgment on ourselves and the work we do. Self-criticism leads to fear of judgment from others. So, instead of labeling your own work judgmentally, try to use objective language and focus on only the facts without passing judgment. For example, instead of me saying that \u201cI\u2019m doing such a terrible job writing this article,\u201d I could say, \u201cI have spent close to an hour planning what to write for this article based on my experiences in dialectical behavior therapy and reading about Zen traditions.\u201d It takes practice, but it\u2019s a simple thing to do throughout the day. It just requires willingness to change the way you look at the world and yourself.<\/p>\n\n\n\n You are human; you aren\u2019t going to get things done the most efficient way the first time or always see the optimum solution in the heat of the moment. So, take time after events or at the end of each day and reflect. You can do this through journaling, silent thought, release through meditation or any other way of reflecting that works for you. The key, though, is that after you reflect and think about ways to improve your awareness for the future, you let go. Don\u2019t dwell on the mistakes you made for hours, give them space then leave them in that space and walk away.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Self-awareness is a skill; it will take time and constant practice to develop, just like the ability to ride a bike or play basketball (which I still can\u2019t do). Hopefully, though, these five little things can find their way into your day and start to build that awareness, or awakening, within your soul. Remember, self-awareness is merely directing your attention inward.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" It\u2019s the age of technology, the dawn of mindless disconnect from not only human contact but also our own bodies.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":20459495,"featured_media":1133860,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"thoughtcatalog_call_to_action":"","tc_post_redirect":"","thoughtcatalog_is_sponsored_content":"0","footnotes":""},"categories":[603198233,603229610],"tags":[],"anchortext":[],"posttemplate":[],"adcampaign":[],"coauthors":[603189499],"class_list":["post-1133859","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-self-help","category-wellness"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/thoughtcatalog.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/curated-lifestyle-4oWTWSb78c4-unsplash.jpg","author_meta":null,"photo_credit":null,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thoughtcatalog.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1133859","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thoughtcatalog.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thoughtcatalog.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thoughtcatalog.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/20459495"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thoughtcatalog.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1133859"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/thoughtcatalog.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1133859\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1133861,"href":"https:\/\/thoughtcatalog.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1133859\/revisions\/1133861"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thoughtcatalog.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1133860"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thoughtcatalog.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1133859"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thoughtcatalog.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1133859"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thoughtcatalog.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1133859"},{"taxonomy":"anchortext","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thoughtcatalog.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/anchortext?post=1133859"},{"taxonomy":"posttemplate","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thoughtcatalog.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posttemplate?post=1133859"},{"taxonomy":"adcampaign","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thoughtcatalog.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/adcampaign?post=1133859"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thoughtcatalog.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=1133859"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}1. Label Your Emotions.<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
2. Release Your Thoughts.<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
3. Practice Acceptance.<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
4. Be Objective And Non-Judgmental.<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
5. Take Time To Reflect.<\/h2>\n\n\n\n