Be aware of yourself

There are millions of articles already written about this, however most people never did practice or apply it in their life.

I always hear the saying to "be yourself".  It is the easiest way to deal with anyone or anything that you face in your life right?  But how can you be yourself when you do not even know yourself.  You are not aware of what you're really feeling, what you really want, what it is that is bothering you, you are not aware of all of these things or you are just afraid to know and face the truth.

I want to share what I have learned in regard to this.  The reason I want to share this is, I want to help, or nudge people to be true to themselves. To know themselves and be happy in anything that they are doing, to not seek for affirmations from society or from anyone, to be confident and be able to do what they really want, to go for their dreams without fear. 

Once you have accepted yourself and know it fully, that is the time that you would experience peace and no longer experience frustration in your life.  Well, I know I'm not an expert; I just want to impart what I have experienced and hope that some people would also be able to experience it too and really truly enjoy every moment that they live in this world.

So, what do I mean of being aware of who you are? 

You might want something, but do you know why you want it?  You might want to achieve this and think that you will be happy, but, when you get it, why aren't you happy?  Being aware is being able to perceive what truly matters to you or knowing the reason why you want to achieve or do something.  Ask yourself questions and do not deny the answer that you really feel. 

There are many articles that may help you in trying to figure this out for yourself, but the bottom line is, it is you who really knows yourself.  You were  the one who experienced all the things that you have experienced in the past.  You know yourself, it is just so difficult to face the truth and accept yourself for who you are.  Fear is really a crippling thing.

So, how can you be aware of yourself? 

One tip I can suggest is to have a diary and record something that you feel everyday or just state what you did and how it made you feel.  That's one of the things I am doing until this time.  It helps me to evaluate myself and also see myself months from now and realized things I would not normally see, if I didn't record it.  That is how you will learn to understand and know yourself fully.   In this process you should also learn how to accept yourself.  Later on, I will explain what I mean by accepting yourself.

I would like to share a story, I have only told my best friend.  I met someone online, in a chat room, he's Buddhist and a teacher of aikido.  I will never forget him, even though we do not have any communication now.  He said something to me that made a huge impact in my life.  It made me understood the meaning of the word "accept".  

Accept does not mean that you have surrendered to something or that you have given up and just let it be.   Accept, for me, means that you are seeing the reality of the situation.  You have discerned what you can and cannot do about it.  Once you have determined your real situation, it will be easier to move on and do something about it.  You would have less frustration because you already know what you are capable of and if there is something you cannot do, you can always ask for help. 

Once the situation or problem is clear to you, the solution to the problem would be clear too and it would be easier to decide what to do.  You will not go around in circles looking for solution because you have faced it head on.  You will lose some of the fear that you feel.  You would be aware why.  There will be lots of questions, but you already know the answer……… just ask yourself.

 Being aware of who you are makes you one step closer to happiness.  =)