Self Awareness: The act of being aware of one's feelings, actions -both non -verbal and verbal on ourselves and others. How important is it to be self-aware? Very - if you ask me. It is crucial to be able to identify how and what we are feeling moment to moment so as not to project that onto others. We do not live in isolation. Most of us are connected to someone or to a group -whether it be professionally or personally. We may have several types of groups that we are connected to. Because we do not live in isolation, it is important that we begin to develop that self-awareness because whatever we do whether it be through words or actions will have a consequence. We may not see the consequence immediately, but eventually it may manifest in different ways. We may either begin to feel it internally within ourselves through repressed anger, through silence, and or we may begin to see it in the connection of who we interact with on a daily basis.
Self-Awareness is like mindfulness - because we are taking the time to be in touch of what and how we are feeling and thinking moment to moment. It is something that must be developed with practice. What do we do when we are surrounded by people either at work or in our personal lives that are oblivious to how they interact with one another? How do we respond? What does this to our psyche? Are we quick to judge? Are we quick to assume? And are we quick to react?
What if we choose the other way - not to respond? And by that I mean not react? Do we begin to judge ourselves as too weak, as being too compliant, etc?
We must be self-aware to coexist. We must be self aware to work in teams. We must be self aware to be in a relationship. And last we must be self aware to be parents. Nothing exists within itself alone - we are all connected in some way or the other. Therefore, we must begin to look at our thoughts, words, deeds and see how much of that is self-harming and how much of that is put out towards those we interact with on a daily basis. It comes out in the form of power and control. And as Shakespeare said, "Power Corrupts Absolutely."
Writing increases self-awareness. Daily writing in the mornings or in the evenings even if it three minutes a day or even if it is five minutes a day to check in with yourself as to how you are feeling and why you are feeling a certain way brings clarity to situations. It also helps you get in touch with what you may not be aware of.
A great exercise is always writing three feeling words at the top, followed by free writing for five minutes and then writing three feeling words after the free writing exercise.
Happy Journaling!
