grow self-awareness Archives - Healthy Happy Life Secrets

Awareness Is a Happiness Solution

Awareness is the tool that helps you everywhere in life. No matter where you are. Even looking out at a serene landscape that you appreciate…

Being aware is not just knowing and feeling your surroundings. It’s being present in the moment.

Sometimes the moment is not where you want to be… like the thoughts are sad or you’re not in the mood to do what you’re doing.

There are those times when your present moment is not a good feeling. If you’re hiking, maybe you’re hungry, hot/cold, tired, etc.

And those are all real feelings you have.

That’s very different than the mindfulness you’ve heard where there’s no pain in the present moment current thoughts… only in the past thoughts and in the uncertain future.

And what you do with your initial feelings or thoughs in the present moment, like distracting or focusing on a rare bird that flew by, replacing sour thoughts with better thoughts, or greeting others can change things for you.

The micro step you take to turn your thoughts into positive ones and loving thoughts change the direction of your day.

Like, you think if you finish this task, then you reward yourself… or by doing this, you’re one step closer to a goal. Or letting go of a bad situation you were just in.

Thought and mindset resetting is how you can use your mindfulness and awareness as a successful weapon. It’s simple but not always easy.

Running in the opposite direction is the easiest maneuver as it takes little extra thought, and as a clear better direction.

That could be as easy as switching tasks.

Since we were young, we learned that if we ever saw danger, naturally run in the other direction.

And after you practice with negative thoughts, this too can become an automatic prompting.

Where you snap out of your thought… and that makes you more aware.

That also trains you to observe your thoughts and let go of the ones that don’t help you.

Even though they seem to be nourishing as your thoughts.

Focus on other dominant thoughts.

Look in another direction.

And in your thoughts, think in another direction.

Thoughts are to the mind as visuals are to the eyes.

You observe your surroundings with your eyes and you can observe your thoughts with your mind with practice.

Some people have a photographic memory or they see in numbers or words that scan across their minds.

But most of us can’t see our thoughts.

But imagine you could.

And observe your thoughts in a pause.

Gather how you feel about them for another brief moment.

And decide what you want to do with them… keep or run in the opposite direction.

Either way, self-awareness lets you decide.

Self-awareness is like seeing yourself in the mirror.

And without a mirror, if you imagine yourself and what you look like to your surroundings, then that’s also self-awareness.

That’s the type of awareness that is most useful in this life, so you can better react and respond to situations where others are involved.

And present awareness can help you survive. Like knowing you’re here and something is out there. Or you’re both here at this same place.

And present awareness can help you thrive…

When you focus on, are intentional, and spend more time mindful on an area, you get a deeper awareness.

And that can develop into new ideas and your next step in life.

That’s why it’s smart to spend time in silence with your thoughts so you can become deeper aware about your life.

This is known as a form of meditating.

There is a meditation form where people usually have their eyes closed with the goal to rest from thoughts.

And then there’s the kind to gain insights. That’s the type I do with my eyes open.

Either way, life is in meditation when you pause from the usual thinking daily activities.

I meditate when I’m doing something in the kitchen with my hands or when I’m looking out and up into the sky or a room (like in Tree yoga pose).

For me, meditation is gathering new ideas and thoughts. It’s about downloading insight from the outside realm.

It’s not a ritual escape or a way to de-stress, although it usually happens when my mind is relaxed.

Because it’s hard to focus or meditate if your ego is involved, or you’re feeling anxious or angry about something.

Rarely do new insights come in that way.

As I believe there is a plan for each of us that we can choose to follow and find the optimal meaningful life designed for us, or choose our own path that’s usually more aligned with our culture.

And I found that this life is a choice of finding deeper purpose or discovering without deeper meaning.

And you know which camp you’ve been living.

Deep awareness seekers are usually seeking purpose.

We want to connect-all-the-dots in our lives.

Because we don’t want to misstep and go down unnecessary rabbit trails unless we know they’re for us to go through for a good reason.

At some point, we connect good reason with more meaning to this life than meets the eye.

…What we thought life would be when we were first getting off the ground is not what where we end up.

And then tuned into this awareness, we can get back to finding our core purpose and our destiny.

This takes time. But as we grow, we realize that some things in life like a first or second job is not as serious as we once thought…

Back there.

And now we’re here..

Back there got us to here.

But it was temporary.

And if we’re not happy at our current job or life season that we’re living out, we can remind ourselves (during those tough situations), to hang in there.

This too shall pass.

As we’ve seen in our past.

And if we’re golden happy where we are, we can relish and enjoy the moments to the fullest.

Because soon enough things will change in the future.

So enjoy the present.

In our happiness, we’re making happy memories as we speak.

And if you can find a way to look at and embrace getting up in the morning as your happiest moment… and then finishing the hard parts of your day as a reason to then celebrate, then I think you will know what living full is.

And you can carry that to your next life assignments.

How I like to celebrate in my world is appreciating framed colorful confetti cards that say “Happy Birthday” or similar in various languages.

In awareness, those colorful cards are everywhere when you look around in grocery and convenience stores.

That’s how I can happily change my day.

It’s a momentary reminder that every day is a celebration. 🥳

And maybe that’s an idea for you or someone in your life…

That everyday is another celebration day to add to your birth day.

Guilt Replacements For Happiness

Guilt is not a good feeling. But subtle, it’s often missed and takes away from happiness. So recognizing it exists in your life is helpful so you can then replace the lesser feelings with higher ones.

Guilt shows up in so many different ways in each of our unique lives.

But in common, so often guilt arises from the upbringing ingrained in you from childhood.

It’s not easy to shake off.

Early on, you were limited in the changes you could make. But today you can and should make the necessary changes for a happy life that free you and make you unstoppable.

Because guilt can have a dark cloud grip on your life.

I realized this in my own life…

When I was younger, I enjoyed reading. And I felt guilty being cooped up inside under a reading light instead of playing outside.

I felt disciplined but I also felt the pressure to be a more social kid.

So I was at odds about enjoying learning when it wasn’t cloudy outside.

Then all grown up, I looked back and realized I love learning and growth that I had set myself up to do from a young age.

And today I’m still all about personal development that to me is living life to the fullest potential.

And I’m sure when you look back in your life, you can see some of the sacrifices you made that help you today!

Even though while going through those times, it probably didn’t feel that way.

It felt like pressure.

That’s where you and I learned and felt the concept of guilt from an early age.

And in Brene Brown’s Daring Greatly, she teaches that guilt is behavior-based and feeling like “I did something bad” while shame is identity-related and “I am bad”.

Both live in the mind but are changeable in our thoughts.

But guilt subtly creeps up in today’s thoughts. And the dots are not connected to the root.

…And that robs daily joy.

It’s not easy to let go of those guilt feelings from the past that apply to your situations today.

And if you were able to le-go of the ego then that would be easy.

But none of us can do that as part of our makeup and built-in equipment.

The ego (or my new made up French word l’ego) can play any of us all day in our thoughts if we allow.

Like in the example I gave of…

When it’s nice weather outside, I still feel those initial guilty feelings that I should be outside.

That developed in my inner child.

I initially almost wish that it were rainy or cloudy out so I didn’t have to worry I’ll regret or miss a beautiful day.

And something as simple as that is how the brain can get stuck if allowed.

But wiser and more evolved, I take those feelings and replace them with better ways and thoughts, so I feel accomplished no matter where I am… indoor or out.

I change my perspective with my thoughts.

I find something positive about my choice.

It’s a fight with the split mind (that we all have), but replacing those lesser thought-feelings with something better and higher is how to change those ways without looking back.

…And make decisions quicker without second guessing.

You learn that your mind is not always your friend.

There’s you.

…And then there’s your mind.

That’s in your body.

So aware on that (as observer to my thoughts), today when I’m inside on a full blue sky day, I crack open my back door so that I can feel the inside-outside living.

Problem solved.

And I give those guilty feelings an ‘ol heave-ho back seat.

They no longer exist until they pop back up another time. And then I’ll rinse and repeat the same or find an even better way.

It keeps getting better until the guilt no longer has you.

That’s aspiring, yes? 😊

And well, I know since you and I have the same human mind instrument, you can do the same for your guilt areas!

…Where you already have all the answers inside you to change them to positive or loving thoughts.

So, now to make yourself aware, all you’ve got to do is figure out: what areas in your life do you hold guilt for?

Because they’re there.

And when you bring them to view when you’re not impacted, you are prepared to address them when they show up again. You’ve got this!

It probably takes a ‘lil intentional thinking initially, but if you can capture what you are still holding onto as guilt, you’re well on your way to replacing them and putting them to rest.

And how I concretely know that for you (as well as me) is that our ego is where these fuzzy areas are lost and stored.

That’s clear so you and I can be on guard.

And when the triggers and thoughts are brought back in the same fuzzy manner, you can de-fuzz them at the gate!

We all have an ego (just like we all have a brain) and it never goes away. And we can protect ourselves from the daily damage.

Keeping our thoughts healthy is the way to empowered happiness.

And awareness is always the first step.

So on that best self-aware intention, if your lingering guilt is from not doing something where you had been asked to, another good step is to ask yourself: why don’t I want to do that?

Because doing what others want you to do isn’t always your best.

Usually there’s a good reason for you choosing or wanting to choose another route. Because you and your inner self know better what you need in your life.

And sometimes at odds, you don’t know why you made some choices until you look back.

Trust yourself and signs you get in this life as life tries to route and re-route you. For Your Best.

That’s the better way than doing everything you plan out of fear or a roadmap someone else laid out for you.

Getting over the guilt of letting others down is sometimes all that is needed from you to get past feeling bad… that can easily cross into the boundaries of shame.

…Or lead to a pity party.

Clearly and intentionally justifying your reasons turn the love back to you and makes whatever you end up doing even more compelling-worthwhile.

Because you and your ideas are worthy and should never be discounted because of others.

And you should always be able to look at yourself in the mirror and say, “I am worthy” no matter what’s going on around you.

That could be a good place to start.

And you can make what you choose (sometimes against what others say) to be your greatest weapon advantage.

Replacing your guilt feelings becomes your new-next growth level.

You teach yourself to evolve into better and higher ways that helps your life. And helps you not miss a daily happy beat.

That’s the next level challenge to beat.

And if I can do it, I know you can also rise to the occasion.

Living happy and with no regrets in mind is worth the effort.

And always remember, you and your life are worth it! 🎉

Grow Self-Awareness For Your Happiness (Part 2 of 2)

Grow self-awareness to “believe in yourself” never grows old. That mantra can change your entire day and how you feel about yourself… and still be you, but better!

Be you and believe in yourself are good daily self-awareness mantras. — Be You and Believe in Yourself! 🪞And love yourself with chocolate heart cookies. A health conscious sweet cookie recipe below… 🧡

A few weeks ago, I published Part 1 (of this 2-part series) on using yoga meditation as a way to develop and grow self-awareness for your happiness. And the one thing yoga and your happiness have in common is self-love.

Think about this, you are loving on yourself when you’re focused inward (and in yoga pretzel bends 🥨).

…So first and foremost, love yourself first.

And if that’s what you’re doing, then that love energy radiates and carries over to the (and your) world that needs more light.

And know that the opposite of love is fear. (It’s not hate that can be usually what we’re constantly upset about).

And by knowing this, we can do something about it as we grow self-awareness.

Our ego is built-into our brain construction that serves up internal obscure thought messages to us every day in a “lizard brain” protection way. Triggers turn into threats in the subconscious ego mind and thrives in our dark area where self-love is missing.

So to grow, we want to bring back love to restore.

Ego fear shows up first in our thoughts, so we have a chance then to shut it down, walk away, change our thoughts, and replace with loving thoughts that grow self-awareness and our happiness.

And if anyone you know thinks they’re not affected, then their ego is definitely playing them every day.

As silly as it can sound to our ego minds, telling yourself and believing “I am loved” (or substitute with your fave loving mantra to build yourself up) will eventually kick out the ugly ego imposter ways.

And then you have a concrete go-to way that helps the next time. And you count on that there will be a next time whether it’s later in the day, week, or a few weeks away.

And if this ego idea is newer to you, think of ego as fear and how you feel when you’re scared in some way. Similarly, an unhealthy amount of ego shows up from time to time from some situational trigger, memory, or enemy forces (where ego stands for Edging God Out if you’re spiritual).

And know that ego fear is disguised on a platter to you in your subconscious thoughts, behaviors, and decisions. More serious is when it shows up in you, and that affects others in your actions if the thought is allowed to grow.

So, do yourself good…

Healthy Love yourself more… and stop the ego fear madness!

When you bring out the accumulated baggage in self-awareness that you’ve been carrying around already too long, let it go, and magnify self-love, then you’re on your merry way to personal happiness.