Self awareness

What is self awareness?  

This is what it means to me:

It’s the ability to focus on yourself and how your actions, thoughts, or emotions do or don't align with your internal standards without any judgment. It’s the ability to introspect, reflect and make your unconscious and subconscious programming and emotions, conscious. It’s an important aspect of one’s ongoing journey of depth and growth.

A way to bring greater awareness into your conditioning and programming and as a means to foster greater self awareness through contemplation, compassionate self inquiry and introspection, I have created some journaling prompts based on Rumi’s Spiritual Maturity.  You may remember me sharing his piece on spiritual maturity in  March.

Rumi was a great sufi (Muslim mystic) and is well known for his spiritual poetry. I find divine wisdom in his words and have created a reflective journaling exercise to bring deeper awareness into yourself.

1. It’s when we stop trying to change others and focus on changing ourselves.

2. It is when we accept people as they are.

3. It is when we understand that all are successful according to their own perspective.

4. It is when you learn to “LET IT GO”.

5. It is when we are not able to have “expectations” in a relationship, and we give our expectations for the pleasure of giving ourselves.

6. It is when we understand that what we do, we do for our own peace.

7. It’s when you don’t need to show the world how clever you are.

8. It is when we don’t need to seek the acceptance of others.

9. It is when we stop comparing ourselves to others.

10. It is when you are at peace with yourself.

11. Spiritual Maturity is when we can distinguish between “need” and “want”

and let the want go.

12. Spiritual maturity is when we don’t have link between happiness and material things.

I invite to do this contemplation below as a self awareness journaling exercise and notice what comes up for you

❦ When journaling, I encourage you to use a pen and paper as old school writing rewires the brain.

❦ Give yourself some quiet and alone time where you are able to be fully present and reflect. Maybe go outside in nature to help get you grounded and open to explore your inner being.

❦ Allow yourself to be open and honest with yourself and suspend all judgement and criticism.

❦ Allow yourself to feel into any emotions that may come up and again suspend all judgement because emotions are messengers. Allow yourself to listen to and to explore the message behind the emotion.

❦ Remember to thank yourself at the end of the exercise, because graciousness and gratitude begins with yourself.

Let’s begin ❦❦❦

1. It’s when we stop trying to change others and focus on changing ourselves.  

 .1 Where am I trying to change others  of focusing on changing myself?

.2 How has trying to change others been serving me? What beliefs do I have about me having to change people?

 .3 What would change in my life if I were to start focusing on and changing myself?

.4 Am I focusing on and changing myself in hopes that others will change?  

.5 What practical steps can I take to create the life I want?  

2. It is when we accept people as they are.  

.1 Where in my life and my relationships am I not accepting people as they are?

.2  How has not accepting people as they are been serving me? What am I getting out of it (consciously and unconsciously)?

.3 What would it mean in my life and my relationships if I were to accept people as they are? Who would stay, who would go, who would I build with, who would I be patient with?

 .4 What parts of myself am I not accepting?

3. It is when we understand that all are successful according to their own perspective.  

.1 What does being successful mean to me? What does it look like, feel like, sound like, what do I sense?  

. 2 If I am not embodying my vision of success, what changes do I need to make in order to become successful? What feelings and beliefs come up for when I think of me being successful?

.3 What does being successful mean for my spouse, partner or significant other? Have I had the conversation with them regarding this? Is their perspective on success similar to mine and if it differs, am I able to accept their perspective and not want to change it?

 4. It is when you learn to “LET IT GO”.

 .1 What am I trying to control about myself and my life that is out of my control?

.2 What am I struggling to let go of that is out of my control?

.3 What am I holding on to that is causing me emotional, spiritual or physical discomfort or harm?

.4 What impact would letting go of these things have on me and my life?    

 5. It is when we are not able to have “expectations” in a relationship, and we give our expectations for the pleasure of giving ourselves.  

.1  What expectations do I have in my relationships and have I communicated these expectations in healthy ways?

.2 Where am I expecting others to know what I need without me directly asking for it?

.3 Do I overgive and then become disappointed or frustrated because of my own expectations?

.4 How are my own unexpressed or unmet expectations harming my relationships?

.5 Am I going of myself for a higher purpose or do I give from a space of lack eg: needing to earn love, seeking external validation, fear of rejection, etc?  

.6 Am I expressing my needs from a place of love or a place of anger, resentment or frustration?

6. It is when we understand that what we do, we do for our own peace. 

 .1 What I am doing (consciously and unconsciously) to create and maintain my own peace?  

.2 What am I doing that’s hindering my own peace?

.3 Am I open to various perspectives of what peace means to each person in my life?

.4 Am I willing to make changes to create peace more peace in my inner being and life?

7. It’s when you don’t need to show the world how clever you are.  

.1 How do I check in with myself regarding my sincerity?

.2 What are my intentions for my daily goings on and interactions?

.3 How do I come back to myself when I’m triggered?

8. It is when we don’t need to seek the acceptance of others.

 .1  Where and how am I seeking acceptance from others?

.2  Do I think that people won’t accept me if they knew my deepest pains/traumas? What adaptations have I taken on in order to be accepted by others?

.3 How has wanting the acceptance from others been serving me?

. 4 What would my life look like if I no longer needed to be accepted by others?  

9. It is when we stop comparing ourselves to others.  

.1 Where am I comparing myself and my life to others?

.2 How has comparing myself to others been serving me? How does it make me feel? What message is it reinforcing about myself?

.3 What would happen if I stopped comparing myself and my life to others?

 10. It is when you are at peace with yourself.

.1  What innerwork and healing have I embarked on to create inner peace?

.2 Have I explored my emotions, thoughts, traumas, past experiences, limiting beliefs, social and cultural conditioning as a means to create enhanced inner peace?

.3 What am I resisting about my life or situation that is creating further tension within my body?

.4 How do I connect to and release tension, trauma and stuck emotions from my body?

11. Spiritual Maturity is when we can distinguish between “need” and “want”

and let the want go.   

.1 How do I distinguish the difference between my needs and my wants?

.2 What are my top 10 needs or values in life?

. 3 What are my top 10 needs or values in my various relationships?

. 4 How can I have these needs met?

12. Spiritual maturity is when we don’t have link between happiness and material things.   

.1 What are my top 10 things that bring me happiness that are not material things?

. 2 If I took all my material things away, what would make me truly happy?  

.3 If money was not an obstacle, what would I do? What would my highest vision for myself and my life look like?

Take as much time as you need to work through these prompts. You may find that your insights may change, the more you allow yourself to explore your programming. You may also find yourself revisiting these prompts over and over again, and learning many new wisdoms, insights and understandings.

Feel free to share your shifts and insights with me. I love hearing from you

Lots of Love

Tasneem