The Power of Awareness

"Ask how you'd live your life differently if you knew you were going to die soon, then ask yourself who those people you admire are and why you admire them, and then ask yourself what was the most fun time in your life. 

The answers to these questions, when seen, heard, and felt, provide us with an open doorway into our mission, our destiny, our purpose."

- David Hawkins, from his book Power Vs. Force. Hawkins is an American psychiatrist, mystic, author and spiritual teacher in Sedona, Arizona.

Asking yourself questions are the stepping stones along your journey, one stepping stone at a time, providing assistance for guidance on your path.


When I tell people that I ask myself questions to learn more about myself, I can almost see them scratching their head in disbelief at what they just heard me say. My technique is to ask the question when I'm behind my computer so I can start writing and take my mind where it wants to go.


In times of high anxiety and I don't know why, I'll ask myself what am I bothered about. It usually brings out those little things that have been bothering me, then I can move toward more questions and working on the problem. The unconscious mind holds so much that we often don't think about, but it is in there . . . festering. Better to get it out in the light!


In some cases, it is like venting to another person and letting things out rather than staying inside and festering. It is much better to keep some thoughts to yourself unless you are looking for feedback from the other person. I just want it out of my thoughts, the writing is like a little box I can put it in and place at the top of the closet until I'm ready to take it down and deal with it.


Back in the day, I would write letters to people I was upset with, but didn't want to confront. I always went through with sending the letter, many times regretting it later. Sometimes just writing the letter is enough . . . it gets thoughts and bad feelings out of your system. Bad idea and a cowardly way to deal with people! I'm happy to say that I have moved past this practice by asking myself the questions and writing about it. Write the letter . . . don't send it!


I can really relate to the quote from David Hawkins and love the questions. It got me to thinking about asking more questions along his theme.


Give yourself the power of awareness, knowing and understanding your feelings and emotions as well as those close to you.

read more

Who Am I?

"Please . . . tell me who you are and
what you want. And if you think those are
simple questions, keep in mind that most
people live their entire lives without
 arriving at an answer."

Gary Zukav

These are questions I constantly ask myself.  The answer varies every day.

In our lifetime, the perspective of identity and what we want out of life change and go through many phases.

Since retiring, I understand some of what I've heard about retirees.  They are lost, they lose their identity and don't know what to do with all that time on their hands.  On the extreme side of what I've heard . . . many people die shortly after retiring.

When my first husband died, I lost my identity in the world of being part of a married couple since the status of my world had entirely changed.  Having said that, I was somewhat prepared for the world of retirement and not having things that had to be done, sometimes at a certain time and place.

Since The Captain has also retired, I am not alone in the quest of our place in the world.  It is a very exciting journey to start all over again with all the awesome possibilities.  At this time, we are still pondering the questions, but enjoying the down time.

All I can say is that I am thoroughly enjoying the freedom of not having to do whatever or having to be at a certain place at a certain time.  

Time to go after another dream!

read more

Peace and contentment . . . the basics

Do you sense the peace and contentment

that can come from an appreciation of one's

place in the cosmos?

How do we get there with the complexities

and pressures of our current lifestyles?

Perhaps it's a matter of becoming aware of what we truly have
as opposed to what our egos believe we need. If we look closely,
we may find that our ego "needs" are just desires.

When you find yourself longing for something, stop and ask . . .

What is missing from my life?

Is it a need?

What are the essential qualities of what I seek?

How can I experience that now?

Source

As I look back at my life, I always thought I knew what I wanted.

It wasn't until the death of my partner and re-evaluating my life over and over again, locking myself away from society and giving myself more than a couple of years to "find myself" that I truly know what I want and need, along with the essential qualities that always found me wondering what was missing in my life.

Finally . . . I'm there.

Allow my life lesson to show that achieving
peace and contentment are simple in nature
by asking yourself the right questions and
moving toward your goals at your own pace.

Be true to yourself!

read more

Growing Day by Day

Suffering is the sandpaper of our life.

 It does its work of shaping us.

 Suffering is part of our training
 program for becoming wise.

Ram Dass

We understand that we want to be better but have no clear definition of what better means and that is part of the process.

At some point in our lives, many of us find ourselves overcome with the desire to become better people. While we are all uniquely capable of navigating this world, we may nonetheless feel driven to grow, expand, and change. This innate need for personal expansion can lead us down many paths as we develop within the context of our individual lives. Yet the initial steps that can put us on the road to evolution are not always clear. We understand that we want to be better but have no clear definition of “better.” To ease this often frustrating uncertainty, we can take small steps, keeping our own concept of growth in mind rather than allowing others to direct the course of our journey. And we should accept that change won’t happen overnight—we may not recognize the transformations taking place within us at first.

Becoming a better person in your own eyes is a whole-life project, and thus you should focus your step-by-step efforts on multiple areas of your existence. Since you likely know innately which qualities you consider good, growing as an individual is simply a matter of making an effort to do good whenever possible. Respect should be a key element of your efforts. When you acknowledge that all people are deserving of compassion, consideration, and dignity, you are naturally more apt to treat them in the manner you yourself wish to be treated. You will intuitively become a more active listener, universally helpful, and truthful. Going the extra mile in all you do can also facilitate evolution. Approaching your everyday duties with an upbeat attitude and positive expectations can help you make the world a brighter, more cheerful place. Finally, coming to terms with your values and then abiding by them will enable you to introduce a new degree of integrity and dignity into your life.

As you endeavor to develop yourself further, you can take pride not only in your successes, but also in the fact that you are cultivating consciousness within yourself through your choices, actions, and behaviors. While you may never feel you have reached the pinnacles of awareness you hope to achieve, you can make the most of this creative process of transformation. Becoming a better person is your choice and is a natural progression in your journey of self-awareness.

Source: Daily Om

Attitude plays a huge part in the quest of becoming a "better person."

My perspective goes out of whack when I'm down, worrying about everything, in a foul mood and all positive vibes have flown out the window.  I'm learning not to even attempt to make anything better since that will just set me up to fail . . . adding insult to injury.  

I know to take a "time out to chill out" . . . that is usually when I write about whatever is bothering me . . . discuss it with The Captain to benefit from his carefree attitude (and hopefully learn to be more like him) . . . or do nothing productive at all and do something fun.  I'm grateful to have the freedom to be able to do that.

One of my areas in need of adjustment is attitude in my path to becoming a better person.  It is learning which battles are worth fighting, the things that are worthy of worrying about and knowing when to let go of those worries that we have no control over.  There has to be a good balance!

I'm finally realizing this attitude has been something I learned as a little girl growing up in a family who worries and frets about everything.  It won't take overnight for me to let go of that attitude that tends to warp my perspective.  While it is healthy to have a responsible concern about certain things, taking it over the top is counterproductive.

Cultivating consciousness has become of utmost importance in my life and I am more aware of it with every day that passes.  My greatest feelings of achievement come when I can immediately recognize that I am starting to fret a bit too much about something and move on to something else without a change in attitude.  

Definite progress that is leading to a better perspective toward life!

read more

Creative Thinking

“Visualize yourself standing before a gateway on a hilltop. Your entire life lies out before you and below. Before you step through, pause and review the past; the learning and the joys, the victories and the sorrows -- everything it took to bring you here.”

-- The Book of Runes

Creative thinking raises awareness of where you have been, where you are and where you want to be in your life, focusing on aspirations, life purpose and life lessons you have learned along the way.

Breaking it down into small pieces through the practice of asking yourself questions helps to focus on those small pieces.  The small pieces will bring the big picture into better focus.

An excellent idea is one I found on the website Higher Awareness, an excellent self-awareness resource.  The idea is to formulate a series of questions that are evaluated on a quarterly basis.  I love the idea of readdressing the questions on a regular basis.


Some examples you can start with and tweak as time goes on, until you find the perfect set of questions that pertain specifically to your life . . .

What was my major accomplishment

 in the past three months?

What made it meaningful?

What is my main challenge?

What are the obstacles that get

 in the way?

What can I do to overcome the obstacles?

Undesirable traits uncovered through life lessons

 that need to be addressed.

How have I improved on those undesirable traits

 in the past three months?

What can I do to achieve greater improvement?

Dreams and aspirations that need more

 attention . . . and how do I approach it?

A good way to begin is to take the featured quote and start writing down your thoughts.  Writing and asking myself questions based on what I wrote always helps to clarify those jumbled up thoughts in my head!

Although this is an awesome practice to get into no matter what time of year it is, there isn't a better time than the beginning of a new year . . . . the symbolic "new beginning" . . . start your year with some creative thinking toward a happier and fulfilled life.

Happy New Year!

read more

The fine line between love and hate

“We loathe ourselves for living and lying every day
in little ways that devalue and dishonor us”

Sarah Ban Breathnach, Something More

All I can say is that I’m very glad to be getting past the phase of hating myself. What a relief it was to give myself permission to stop trying to be perfect or even come close to it and loving myself for who I am.

It originates from being raised by a very strict, domineering father who could never be pleased. Just when I thought I may be getting close to making him happy, he raised the bar a little higher, making it impossible to ever feel “good enough.”

He died over a decade ago and we never made peace with each other. I never heard the words that he was proud of me or that he loved me . . . I only felt resentment from him.

After all this time I finally realize that he hated himself, his life circumstances . . . I was an innocent child who didn’t ask to be born, but paid the price anyway.

As a result, I grew up thinking that I really was that stupid little girl who could never do anything good enough and it has taken most of my life to love myself. I’m getting there . . . and I’ve made so much progress since I wrote this journal entry a little more than a year ago.

Originally published
August 12, 2007

It is not what you have or have not . . . but what you do with it. Not only “things” or possessions . . . but feelings within ourselves.

The thought never occurred to me that I had a self-loathing or hatred of myself. In my reading today, I realized that when we beat ourselves up over little things that we did or can’t do or thoughts . . . whatever it is . . . it is a form of hating ourselves.

When I think of all the times I have beaten myself up over things that I just COULD NOT do at a certain phase of my coming back to life . . . simply being social, walking outside to get fresh air but afraid I may have to talk to someone who sees me outside.

Hating our shortcomings, our human frailties and flaws . . . it is not the thoughts of self-hatred that are bad, it is what we do with it. The realization is a good thing and part of the healing. The healing comes in what we do about the things that bother us about ourselves.

Hate is a strong word, but it is a fine line between love and hate within ourselves.

Tonight I have given myself permission to hate myself for those things that keep me from being who I am, the best person that I can be. See it for what it is, feel it . . . I have to come to terms with those things before I can move past them . . . and love myself for who I am.

What I’ve learned today is that the feelings of hate and punishing myself go hand in hand and needs to stop. How can I move on if I don’t think I am worthy?

More progress, although I know I will have to address this issue over and over again before I come to terms with it . . . whatever it takes to be “normal” again.


Have you ever hated yourself?

Do you realize how wrong that is?

read more