Every Friday I get an email from one of my mentors, Randy Gage. They usually make me think and smile; and I loved this one. Go to his site, he is superb and shares everything. Thanks Randy!
“Here’s my weekly dispatch to you, exploring a subject that I’m thinking about – a subject you may want to think about as well. And what I’m thinking about right now is self-awareness.
It seems to me like billions of people are living in a continuous state where their minds are overstimulated, and their bodies are under stimulated. They allow their minds to be exposed to constant interruptions from their devices, while their bodies are stationary, with no exercise other than tapping a keyboard or moving their gaze from one screen to another.
On a much deeper level, we’ve lost touch with our bodies by shutting down, suppressing, or overriding our body wisdom. We don’t even notice our body electricity or other signals vying for our attention. We’ve dulled our sensitivities of taste with sugar, sweeteners, and spices. Most people cannot appreciate the poignant flavor of a simple orange or apple. We need to Frankenstein together concoctions like apple fritters, apple cobbler, or apple spice muffins to compensate for the metaphorical armor we’ve built around our senses of taste, smell, and feel.
We suppress both laughter and crying. How crazy is that? We do the same thing with dance, rhythmic movement, and even sex. We start to compartmentalize and schedule these things.
Kids tap their feet, snap their fingers, and sway reflexively and we demand that they stand still and remain quiet. Sex twice a week, missionary position with the lights out is a pathetic substitute for feeling, expressing, and releasing the powerful sexual energy coursing through your body.
What we’re really talking about with all this is an almost total ignorance of what might be the single most important personal quality for enlightenment, harmony, and prosperity…
Self-awareness.
Because even the qualities which are “nobler,” such as love, kindness, and empathy – can only be accessed and expressed to the degree of your self-awareness. You must first be aware of and love yourself, before you develop awareness and love for others.
What is the supernatural state of bliss for us? Is it being one with your body, intricately connected to every pulse, impulse, and movement? Or is it recognizing that we are not our bodies? Are we not the doers but the seers – sentient beings with the ability to orchestrate and operate the mass of tissue, bones, and organs surrounding our consciousness?
Does real sanity come only after you have transcended madness? Is true relaxation available to us only after we have experienced a peak of tension? Can we truly appreciate love before we have suffered an irreplaceable loss?
Can the person born and raised in an idyllic heaven like Hawaii appreciate the beauty surrounding them with the same intensity as someone born in Indiana, experiencing paradise for the first time? And can either of them experience that beauty without first developing their self-awareness?
Anyway, that’s what I’m thinking about. Hit me up on Twitter and let me know what’s on your mind.
Phoenix Education 