The Alphabet of Articles : Awareness

Never put wet washing up on top of dry washing up

I really like my house, my work, my clothes, pretty much everything in my world, to be nice and tidy.  In fact sometimes I get really frustrated that there is always something to do and I would rather be getting on with whatever I want to do next.  I figured out that I could ease this a little in two ways, firstly by being present in the moment and enjoying the act, whatever it might be, which in this case is usually tidying or cleaning.

Secondly by taking action on the spot so that I would not have to attend to it at all.  For example - often I would knock something off the side such as a hair tie or bottle of lotion and just think, I will pick it up when I get up.  Now, anything I wrong, I right straight away.  It gives me an amazing sense of achievement and awareness and has actually made me (via a complicated set of thought processes I will discuss at another time), more careful in my actions.

 
So I use awareness in the moment to assist and better my future outcomes.  The other example is regarding washing up.  It has always been a bugbear of mine (which stems from my father's own bugbear!) that when there is dry washing up on the sideboard or drainer, freshly washed items are then placed on top.  Yet for ages I still was doing this and therefore driving myself crazy! So now to save time and my sanity, I always put away what is there before I even think about putting my rubber gloves on.  Problem solved.

There are many such simple life hacks that I now employ that have a multiplicity of benefits.  The main one being the sharpening of my awareness.  I am intuitive by nature – in relation to people, situations and actions.  This coupled with being very aware - which I believe is a developed skill rather than just a characteristic - makes me a confident and able driver on the road as I can calculate all I see going on around me and the implications of my own and others’ actions.

Recognise when you are blocked / stuck / tired

Awareness of your own physiology and psychology is I believe the absolute key to moving yourself on in life.  We need to create awareness to make change and therefore evolve.  My awareness was invoked largely through the practice of yoga.  You go right back to the basics.  It’s all about awareness and extreme focus.  You listen (awareness of instruction), your mind applies that to your breathing (awareness of breath), your body (awareness of muscles and skeleton) your mind makes new connections between these elements (awareness of connection).

 
When you practice this awareness regularly, and stop worrying about what you look like in the mirror or what yoga pants someone is wearing, it becomes natural and ingrained in you.  All of a sudden you are noticing what muscles are working when you are stretching for something in the top of a cupboard.  Next you are walking down the street, feeling taller and seeing that the person in front of you could really do with pulling their shoulders back.

 
Then the miracle comes that you feel tired in your body and you know you need to take a rest or eat some food.  This happens because you are aware of your physiology and the neuroplasticy (rewiring of the brain) has occurred that allows you this awareness. If you then listen - which can be the challenging part (I know all too well!), your body and mind will reward you by restoring itself! You little genius, you!

Be aware of what you are good at

This is going to be much much harder for some than it is for others.  Those who struggle with self acknowledgement, and woe betide you, self praise, will find this one far more difficult even though in fact it is something that can be shifted / changed. 

I mentioned earlier that I am intuitive and almost hyper aware (you now see the reason for the article)!  However, it took me a long time to realise that this is a skill (you also see the irony?).  Once I realised this important fact I asked myself how I could apply it.  The result is now that I have a career in coaching, helping others to see in themselves what I see in them from early on in our meeting. 

 
My favourite thing about this is that it means when we work together, they will realise their potential. The next best thing is that it means I can very quickly determine who I want to work with.  My almost immediate determining factor is their capacity to listen.  If you can't listen - or learn to listen - coaching is not for you.  If you can't see what you are good at, coaching is definitely for you.

Usually what we are good at we do without thinking and always what we are good at makes us feel good - in our minds and body.  You just need to take note.  Literally.  Each day make a list of all the things you have done well.  Couple this with what you are grateful for and you will do more and attract more of the same.  I look forward to talking through this a little more in a later piece.

 Awareness of this will tell you your purpose in life

 
When you become aware of what you are good at, what you enjoy and what makes you feel good, you do more of it, simple as that.  Furthermore this can give you great insight into what your future should consist of l and will definitely be good for your health. 

There is no better time than now to determine what you do and don't want in your life and if you look at what you enjoy and do today, this will give you a great indicator of what your life will look like.  If you trudge on doing a job you don't enjoy, you can expect to see misery and likely ill health in your future.  If you stay with a partner, or with circumstances in your relationship, that you are not happy with, you are unlikely to live into old age with that person.

If you focus on what you do want and therefore determine what your purpose is, your life will be full of energy, confidence, enthusiasm and happiness.  So a little awareness and action now will pay you the best dividends of health, abundance and joy for your future.

Awareness of others and the good things they do

If it feels too overwhelming to think about what good you do and the fantastic characteristics that you have, there is a way to ease yourself into it.  Take a look at the people you admire and / or hold dear to you.  What is it you like and respect about these people?  Whatever it is, you are likely already doing that particular thing in one form or another as we tend to gravitate to people who are like us.

For example, if it the actions your mentors take that you admire, again look at how you can scale and implement the same actions into your world.  Whatever you see someone doing that you like, there are ways you can emulate these things too.  You might never become a master chef like Marco Pierre White but you can buy his cookbook and make his dishes.  You might never become an athlete or have the body of Mo Farah but you can do his workout DVD even if you have never done that kind of exercise before.  Everything is accessible.

Be aware of the people that serve you and help you.  Acknowledge your postman and the fact that your mail gets delivered to you - thank him or her when you see them.  When someone does a kindness for you, thank them and do something similar for someone else.  The more good you see and acknowledge in others, the more good things you will do yourself.  If you would like to hear more on this then please do read my article about Kindness which I wrote as part of Mental Health Awareness Week,

It doesn't even need to be people.  What do you like about the things in your world?  Have awareness of the sights you see on your morning walk, how comfy your bed is and even the sights and sounds of when you do the washing up or cleaning.  Appreciate these things and the fact that you have the ability to do them.

Reflection - awareness doesn't always happen in the moment

Awareness doesn't happen, or need to happen, in the moment when that it occurs.  We have all had times when we have realised "oh, that is what he was talking about" or "oh, that is why I did that!".  This is reflection, which is conscious or unconscious, and can bring about great recognition and insight.  Please, in this instance, try not to kick yourself for not having realised this particular thing earlier.  You will know it when you know it and this is precisely when you need to know it so do not worry.  What is gone is gone and we can only be fully aware in any one moment, the past is gone and the present is everything.