I’ve been working a lot more with my self-awareness lately. I look back at the pictures we’ve taken of our family over the years. I was looking at the various stages of growth that my daughter has gone through.
From baby to toddler, to right now that she’s in fourth grade. I think about how she was then and how she is now. I feel warmth and yet some sadness as those years were a blessing.
Now that they’re gone, it’s a little unsettling knowing just how fast time goes and now that she’s half way to being an adult, I think about her future.
Am I doing what I need to be doing to make sure she has the best chance to be the best version of herself she can be? Am I encouraging enough?
Compassionate enough? Being a good role model? Am I being a hypocrite in my expectations of her and what I expect of myself?
I ask myself all these questions and it’s because I care about her life more than my own. That’s the thing about being a engaged loving parent.
I’d gladly give my life for hers a million times over. So as I’m thinking about all this, I’m starting to get a little emotional and that’s a good thing.
Thinking about the love I have for my child allows me to ask these questions of myself. It let’s me do an introspection of sorts to hold myself accountable as a parent.
I do this often. It isn’t always looking at pictures. It could be listening to specific music that triggers the same emotional response or reading something along the same lines.
It’s getting to the point where you trigger an emotion. If you allow it and not just put up that wall and hide from your emotions like I know we all sometimes do. Some more than others.
When you trigger the emotional response, go with it. Let it drive you to set an intention to act in some way. It could be as simple as asking yourself what you are doing that you could do better.
It’s just the gateway to remembering to take a look at yourself from the outside in. Taking an honest account of your life, actions, and calling yourself out on the things you know in your heart need to change. That’s what self-awareness brings into your life.
See, a lot of the reason why so many of us never do an introspection, is because we’re not even remotely consciously aware enough of what’s going on around us that we are essentially living on autopilot.
When you become consciously aware, which is another way of saying you are not thinking about the past or the future—you are in the present moment focusing on the here and now, and are able to take more in with your senses with your surroundings.
This is a perfect time to go inside yourself and sort of think about everything and set a new intention to make some needed changes.
Becoming more self aware and taking a look into the vast inner world held inside also allows you to grow and raise your consciousness.
And back to the point of the post…bringing self-awareness into your life and doing an introspection once in a while will help you become a better person. So why not just try it?