Self-Awareness for Everyone

No matter the obstacles, you always have a choice Very rarely do you get to go from point ‘A’ to point 'B’ smoothly and obstacle free. And every time you come across challenges and obstacles in your life, you can give up, push through, or try another way. That doesn’t always feel true. There are plenty of times when it feels like you’re stuck, trapped, and without recourse. The trouble is, you alw...

Life is too short not to make time for what/who matters Life in the meatsuits we each occupy is finite. My point is this – knowing time is finite and limited, are you doing what you love? Are you spending time with those you love? If not now – why not now? Why are we all so hell-bent on unimportant minutia over living here and now, and doing what we love/being with who we love? Time is an illusion...

Alone and not alone coexist differently from feeling lonely Lots of people rue loneliness. Being alone sucks, they get frustrated when they haven’t got companionship, and this can be deeply upsetting and distracting on multiple levels. But then, lots of people crave being alone. Being alone is comforting, they get frustrated when they don’t get alone time, and too little alone time can be deeply u...

Choice is your superpower – even when your choices suck When it comes to anything – and mostly everything – about your life, you always have choices. The vast majority are made automatically, by rote and routine. They become habits – which then embed themselves into your subconscious. While less-desirable choices might be your only options – they are still options and thus choices to be made. Even...

How you handle your triggers will impact everything you do Trigger warning – this might be controversial, but I think it needs to be addressed. Some people will do everything in their power to avoid their triggers. But this becomes problematic because avoiding triggers allows them to continue to trigger you. Avoiding your triggers will leave them the ability to trigger you. Life is seldom easy or...

Sometimes being the only one in your head can be infuriating Thinky-thoughts can insinuate themselves into a strange place between your conscious and subconscious minds. But it’s a place both right in front of you and hard to reach. When there are a lot of things happening all at once – both inside and outside of yourself – overwhelm can hit hard and fast. Before you know it, you find yourself flu...

Habits take time and effort to make, change, and break Breaking and/or changing a habit frequently requires a lot of conscious effort. When it comes to habits and changing or breaking them – the quick fix nearly always fails. Why? Because habits are complex, multifaceted, and it takes time to build your habit in the first place. You don’t instantly form a habit. That’s not how habits are made. Hab...

You ARE worthwhile and deserving Everyone has bad days. That’s part of the human experience. Even the happiest, most upbeat, and most positive people have bad days. That’s the yin/yang of the Universe at play. Through it all – no matter what your experience – there are two truths. ·        You and your life are worthwhile ·        You are deserving of living a life that lights you up It doesn’t ma...

Feelings are a complex set of emotions Feelings are made up of what and how. The what of feelings often also ties into thoughts. I spent a lot of my youth unable to truly feel my feelings. It’s okay to not be okay How you feel is valid. What’s more, it is utterly and completely okay to not be okay. What and how you feel is valid. But you also have a choice as to how long you will allow it to take...

The unknown is rife with uncertainty The unknown is a mystery. And its mysterious nature makes people uncomfortable. Uncertainty is about as far from comfortable and familiar as you can get. Why is it all so damned scary? Fear and leaving your comfort zone Understanding what comfort zones are is hugely important. Comfort is a misnomer. What it should be called instead is a familiarity zone or a st...

What is mindfulness? Mindfulness is conscious awareness, and self-awareness, in the present. Right here and right now. It’s conscious awareness of your inner mindset/headspace/psyche self. That inner awareness leads to greater awareness of life, the Universe, and everything. It is both stunningly simple and incredibly challenging. That’s due to resistance from without (society, culture, other peop...

Non-toxic positivity is a creative force for self-care and improvement The word “positivity” might set your teeth on edge. That’s probably because you’ve been exposed to all the toxic positivity out there. Toxic positivity is the idea that if you think positive – and ONLY positive - your life will be the best it can be. It rather blatantly disregards, ignores, or turns a blind eye to anything that...

The power of gratitude should never be underestimated Passive gratitude is all well and good – but it’s not conducive to improving your overall mental, emotional, and spiritual health. Active gratitude, on the other hand, is. How does that work? Your health starts in your head Most people, thinking about health and being healthy, immediately go to the body. Mental, emotional, and spiritual health,...

Self-care is the only thing over which you have control Your health, wellness, and wellbeing belong to nobody but you. Ergo, you’re the only one who can care for them. The who, what, where, how, and why of you is directly tied to your health, wellness, and wellbeing. Any imbalance in your physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual health will challenge you. When you don’t take care of yourself – w...

Did you know that your identity is largely artificial and comes from your equally artificial ego? Identity is complex. How you identify yourself varies depending on circumstances and situations. Identity tends to get tied up in ego. Which adds to its utter artifice. You are made up of a conscious mind and a subconscious mind. The subconscious mind runs on rote and routine and often isn’t fully eng...

Everyone has multiple comfort zones that they exist within Even when a given comfort zone is unideal and maybe unhelpful to me and my life, that doesn’t mean leaving it is ever easy. Why? Because comfort zones are comfortable due to their familiarity. And the familiar is often comforting – even when not good for us. There is always more than one depending on what it is and how it impacts you. How...

To love yourself you need to first like yourself Nobody is ever, truly, alone. Why? Because no matter where you go, there you are. Or in other words – you always have yourself. Here’s the thing – your entire life, you have yourself. That means that you have all that you are, good, bad, and otherwise, always with you. For many people, that’s disconcerting. You have yourself – but isn’t that a lonel...

Toxic people poison us It’s all too easy to scroll through Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram, and be overwhelmed by toxic people. Before you know it, you’re wasting your time, doomscrolling, feeling bad, and wondering if anything is worth it. These toxic people poison you into believing in lack, scarcity, and insufficiency which isn’t true. And this is hardest to reconcile when they are friends and...

Even when life sucks, YOU choose what you do with it What do you do when it all sucks? Lament or live. It would be very, very easy to lament what’s going on. I could go on and on about the many things that suck that have been going on. I could lament multiple potentials, and unknown futures resulting from all of this. I could wallow in the total suckage of this situation – and let it pull me down...

Can you accept what control you DO have? The only thing over which you and I have control is ourselves. Even then, there are limits to what you can and do control. All of them are internal. Sure, there are externals that you can direct – but control is not the case. You can change your body shape, eye color, hair length and color, what you wear, and maybe a couple of other elements of yourself. In...

What if “should” is one of the biggest causes of suffering? What if there is no “should”? What does that mean? A great many of the things that frustrate me tend to revolve around the word “should”. For example, I should be making more money, I should be doing more of ‘x’, I should be better with ‘y’, I should be more consistent with my diet and exercise, and so on. All of the above are valid thing...

What IS the truth? Long ago, I came to this notion: There are three brands of truth. Mine, yours, and the absolute. The truth, as I perceive it, is colored by my life experiences, education, environment, associations, and the imperfection of memory. Just because I remember something having been a certain way doesn’t make it so. But the truth, as I believe it to be - no matter the topic – is colore...

The one and only constant in the entire universe is change Change can be glacially slow, distressingly swift, or it can be steady, visible, and equally inevitable. For good or ill, people change. However, some people work hard to remain as they have always been. Change might occur all around them, but they decide they will not be moved by it. They choose not to change. At the core of change for yo...

Blame distracts and deflects and solves nothing For every ill in the world today – you can find someone to blame. It’s very easy to do. Most politicians blame their opposition for all our woes. Business leaders blame laws and regulations for poor wages and the lousy treatment of employees. Religious leaders blame other religions and atheists for everything wrong in our world today. What’s more, in...

Gratitude is the key to everything good and great It should come as no surprise given that we live in a fear-based society. Often, the fear of missing out (what has been renamed/rebranded as FOMO), fear of suffering, and fear of appearing to be lacking are beamed into your brain everywhere you turn. Radio, social media, tv, billboards, and everywhere there’s advertising will tell you if you don’t...