Weekly Inspirations
2019 — Q2W14 — Awareness
The ultimate value of a life is a function of the level of awareness with which it was lived.
I've experienced a number of dramatic changes in my life which showed me how insignificant and limited my awareness of the world and myself is. It's as if we watch the world from our own unique window and we experience the same reality with a different angle, light and focus. And that is only with regard to what we see because most of it remains within our blind zones. Especially when it comes to ourselves.
The Limitations of Awareness
We are like an ant relentlessly carrying a straw oblivious of the fact there is a rally going on around with regard to the coming elections.
During my own journey, I have come to realize how subjective our schooling is. Especially when it comes to history but also culture. For example, I have been told to honour and be proud of the most glorious moments of my country’s history. Yet, such moments are always about conquering other countries and expanding power. That means that one's glory is experienced as tyranny and oppression by others. It’s not much different in our offices and in our families.
I have come to realize that my understanding of the world depends on the sources of information I use. That’s kind of obvious. However, unless we dedicate our lives to the in-depth exploring of a certain topic from all angles, we have to rely upon the sources of information which we deem to be reliable. That means we are destined to see only a small part of the truth on most subjects. No need to feel bad about it though. That’s the way the cookie crumbles. The problem comes if we know part of the truth but we think it’s the whole. Instead, we need to always keep an open mind that we hold only a small fraction of the truth.
The biggest impediment to expanding our awareness is our desire for self-righteousness and our belief that there is one right point of view.
If you want to explore this further, I recommend researching the experiment quoted in this article of MIT Technology Review called: “A quantum experiment suggests there’s no such thing as objective reality”. According to the article, “physicists have long suspected that quantum mechanics allows two observers to experience different, conflicting realities. Now they’ve performed the first experiment that proves it.“
How would you act differently tomorrow knowing that you always experience different and even conflicting realities with anyone you interact with? I hope your first thoughts are of opportunity and curiosity.
Self-Awareness
So far, the story was about exploring the world around us. Yet, by far, the most difficult part is exploring ourselves. Everything we already said is true and then some. Depending on how far we are on the journey of becoming an authentic human being, we would experience vulnerability, humiliation, blame and a sense of victimhood or a sense of joy, curiosity and openness.
My toughest moments as far as expanding my self-awareness were two. First, when I left my family and my home town at the age of 19. And then, when 8 years later I embarked a carrier as an entrepreneur and a manager. The second was by far much tougher. My most difficult moments were when getting unfavourable feedback. It was well meant but I did not take it well. I could hear the words being said but somehow in the distance. What was dominating instead were my emotions of not being understood, not being good enough or being unrightfully blamed. It shook my sense of identity. Worst, I could not understand where the problem was and how to address it. It felt as if I could see only so far and beyond that was darkness. It wasn't until years later that I realized- this is how a lack of awareness of what’s happening feels like.
Today I know that the more stuck we are in our own reality, the bigger the chances that we perceive ourselves as insecure or as victims while we come across as arrogant or as tyrants.
The ultimate value of our life at any given moment is a function of our level of awareness then. That is why the most important learnings in life are on how to expand our awareness. For that, we need to welcome experimentation, feedback and criticism.
If feedback feels painful or stressful, we deny ourselves the opportunity to learn and move forward. There are many reasons why we might feel this way. Reasons related to us or to the other person. In both cases, the sooner we open up to new perspectives, the more joyful it becomes. The fastest way to do that is through gratitude. Try that next time when stress and negative emotions overwhelm you. Tell yourself, I am grateful for this feedback and this criticism because it opens new perspectives for me and expands my awareness. It works for me and it probably will work for you.
Check other weekly inspirations of mine.
