Self Awareness for Spiritual Growth

People warm to authentic communication, they seem to recognize it. When your thoughts and emotions are aligned with your actions, you feel powerful and good about yourself. This is why we are drawn to confident, passionate and up-beat people.

Since much of casual socialising is about keeping up appearances and projecting the impression that we’re on top of it all all the time, people’s egos are running the show.

Too often people are not that interested in the unique person you are, and are more interested in having an audience. This is when it’s hardest to be authentic when much of the time is spent in talking about safe subjects. Other times people brag, others listen, then join in a one-upmanship.

After being in a social situation and you come home, the mind will start to ruminate about impressions you got from the occasion and the people. It is also a time when ego seizes the opportunity to spin its wheels so that you fall into a daydream and start making judgments.

The worst manifestation of this is when a passing careless comment that you managed to ignore at the time, starts to drill a pothole in your mind and you find that this comment bothers you.

The mind is stubborn and mental grooves develop easily. They become an easy line of thinking that you slip into without you realising it. This is one of the most common ways we lose our authenticity. We start to think about what that person might have meant, as if it was important.

The ego will assume the worst and is quite irrational. For a start people don’t want to put you down nearly as often as ego thinks. They have their own world that occupies their head space. More often than not, the careless comment was just that.

When you find yourself getting pre-occupied or overly critical, it’s a good time to let go those thoughts and return to the present moment. This will help you snap out of over-thinking.

Authenticity and the Higher Self

We are so used to fitting ourself into society’s expectations that we can lose sight of our deepest emotional needs. Of course we need to conform our behaviour towards others for the sake of harmony.

But when it starts to affect the types of interests we have, and motivations we opt into, then that is when we may lose sight of who we really are. The way to tell if you are doing this is if you find that effort seems like hard work. It’s even harder if it feels like you are going against your grain.

How can you tell if you are doing this? It’s easy. When the daily activities you are obliged to do feel like you are pushing a heavy weight up a slippery slope, or your movements feel leaden, and the air around you like molasses, then it’s time for a reality check. What are you missing?

The answer is not complicated. You are simply not giving enough time to expressing your individuality in a creative and loving way.

Deep down, under all that rational, conservative, stiff-upper-lip outward projection is a warm, loving and ticklish person who would love to ‘let it all hang out’ sometimes.

This is when Self Awareness is indispensable. When you know yourself, you are fully aware when you are not being your true self – when you are stepping into a role play.

This is a great relief because you know there is more to you than this role you are playing. It means that if the nature of the role changes or a great upheaval removes that role from your life, you will not be devastated and hollowed out because the authentic you is still there.

The way to discover and remain familiar with your true self is very simple. It is by being in the present moment, be in the Now as much as you can – at all times of the day.

The ego, which is the master of role-plays, masks and conformity, wants to keep you out of the present moment through its ‘monkey mind’ chatter. The chatter is always about replays of the past or a fear or prediction about the future.

By staying in the moment as often as you can, this allows your higher self to come forward from behind all the ego voices. Your higher self is your soul, the eternal you. Some people think this is the real meaning of the Holy Spirit.

You are at your most authentic self when you access this part of your identity. It is in those moments you are less affected by external things and expectations of others, and are able to put more trust in yourself.

Many people feel dismay because they don’t know their life work or what they should and could do that would make most use of their talents to bring them personal satisfaction. The only way to find out is to try different things, schedule some discovery time for yourself.

When you find that thing you love, it will be something that doesn’t feel like work at all. Taking action towards that goal won’t feel forced, it becomes natural. It’s something you can’t wait to do.