Awareness

What is Awareness?

Awareness is the state or condition of being aware, of having knowledge, of consciousness.

Synonyms of awareness include attention, understanding, appreciation, alertness, comprehension, realization, recognition, enlightenment, and mindfulness.

Thoughts

You may have heard that we are not what we think. Or, we are not our thoughts. We all talk to ourselves in our heads or in our minds. We have a running narrative of the events of our life. Our thoughts are about the past, the future, the present, and maybe even how the past, present, and future can be different. To some degree, our thoughts may not change our reality. You may have also heard the phrase, “it is what it is.” We make judgments, we make plans, we make predictions. Many of our thoughts are about things that are out of our control. When it rains, it rains. We may have our thoughts and feelings about the rain, but it’s Nature – it’s just rain. So, maybe our thoughts are just a part of who we are. If our thoughts are who we are, then who is the one noticing our thoughts? Awareness is the understanding that we are the ones observing our thoughts. Mindfulness and meditation help you to become more aware and take better control of your thoughts – and your actions.

Awareness is a term often used in meditation. Paying attention is another way to say it. Paying attention to, or focusing on our breath or our thoughts – and noticing when our mind wanders – can help us to develop an awareness of our mind. The more we practice this awareness during meditation, the better shape or the stronger our mind can get – which makes us more aware of our thoughts throughout the day. This mindfulness helps us to be more balanced and psychologically healthier. So, when it rains, we may have thoughts but we’re not controlled by our thoughts. We are not our thoughts.

I invite you to ponder on what awareness means to you …

Peace, Love & Awareness

Quotes

“The key to growth is the introduction of higher dimensions of consciousness into our awareness.”
~Lao Tzu

“Every human has four endowments; self-awareness, conscience, independent will and creative imagination. These give us the ultimate human freedom. The power to choose, to respond, to change.”
~Stephen Covey

“Awareness is like the sun. When it shines on things, they are transformed.”
~Thich Nhat Hanh

“What is necessary to change a person is to change his awareness of himself.”
~Abraham Maslow

“As our awareness grows, so we grow.”
~Anonymous