Consciousness - Is this really who I want to be?
To keep it simple, we live and operate on different levels of consciousness.
Usually, all of them are operating at the same time and we fluctuate from one level to another of consciousness as we sort out all our ‘stuff’.
Everyone has ‘stuff’ to clear.
The aim of a spiritual journey is to operate more and more at higher levels of consciousness.
At the basic level, we’re unconscious, so we’re driven by our desires and fears. At this level, you’re operating on automatic pilot and have no choice, because you have no idea why you react in certain ways and can’t control it.
The process for all of us is to become more conscious of what’s going on in the depths of our being, so that we can make more informed choices about ways of being that no longer serve us.
That includes emotions and attitudes we want to discard, or ways of behaving or thinking that are just bad habits. We decide it’s time to grow up.
As we become more conscious (that’s an ongoing journey of exploration) we’re able to make choices that serve us better. We’re less reactionary. We improve our abilities to master the challenges of life. We’re stronger and far more aware.
At the higher levels of consciousness, we’re thinking less about ourselves and more about the human family and about the world as a whole. We’re aware that everything we do and think has an impact, whether positive or negative.
How can we live at a higher level of consciousness?
One simple question is the trick. With every thought and action, just ask yourself:
Is this really who I want to be?
Let me give you an example. I have an aunt in a nursing home in the South of France. She’s 91 now, barely able to move around and has a failing memory. She used to love nature—the sea, mountains, rolling hills and gardens full of roses. The sad thing now is that she’s stuck in a tiny cupboard of a room with no view. From what I understand, there is no garden for her to sit in, and the staff rarely take her out. She’s too frail.
So, aside from the odd phone call, I send her cards with pictures of birds or trees on the front, and now and then, I send her little photo albums with pictures of the countryside. These give her so much joy.
But I have heavy work commitments, and too much time passes between my contacts with her. Sometimes a part of me groans that I ‘have to’ spend time creating yet another photo album. ‘Waaah, I have too much to do!’ I wail.
Then my higher self steps in and asks: ‘Is this really who I want to be?’
It’s a simple question that reminds me to be the better person, not the selfish one who ignores the pain of a little old lady stuck in a lonely ‘cupboard’ with no view.
I’m uplifted by remembering the joy my photo albums bring her. She lives through those.
So, whenever you make excuses not to do the right thing, whatever that is, remember to ask yourself: ‘Is this really who I want to be?’
That’s what living at a higher level of consciousness means.
Need help with living more consciously?
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