It is difficult to find a person who would not like to make his life more successful, understandable, predictable. To be able to avoid troubles in advance, to anticipate possible dangers. Achieve your goals with the least difficulty. All of this and much more can be achieved by living consciously.
There are at least two interpretations of what it means to live consciously. Moreover, there are very big differences between them.
Living with awareness means being able to see cause and effect
Performing certain actions and deeds, a person sometimes does not know what they will bring him. In other words, very often he does not see the connection between causes and effects. Remember how many times you have lamented about some rash acts - if you knew where they will lead, you would never have done them.
The most unpleasant thing is that in many cases a person has the ability to anticipate future problems in advance, but does not. Why? Due to lack of awareness, inability to analyze the elementary connection of events. A simple conclusion follows from this - it is necessary to increase the level of awareness. That is, to try to predict the development of events, to understand what problems this or that step can bring.
A conscious life involves the ability to analyze the current situation. Where am I in my life? What am I striving for, what do I want? What is the meaning of my existence? Many people just go with the flow, not even really understanding what they want. By realizing your priorities and working out ways to achieve them, you can make your life much more successful and interesting.
Living with awareness means being aware of the moment
A person's attention is constantly busy with something. This is either the business he is currently engaged in, or his thoughts. Moreover, even while doing something, a person often thinks about something completely foreign. His thoughts are usually related to the past or the future, while the person misses the present moment. In other words, he lives in the past or the future, but he does not live in the present.
You can change the situation by learning to be present all the time in the moment. That is, to be aware of it, to be aware. Try, without thinking about anything, just look around. Move your gaze from object to object, look - but do not evaluate what you see. There are no thoughts, your attention is entirely here, in the present moment. For a while, you broke free from the captivity of thoughts, you were able to gain awareness.
Unfortunately, very quickly you will lose this awareness - the habit of thinking will prevail, you will again plunge into mental constructions. These two states - being aware of the present moment and being in thought - are very reminiscent of waking up and sleeping. Being aware of the present moment, you wake up, break free from the captivity of thoughts. When thoughts take over again, you fall asleep again.
Tell me, would you like to live several times longer? Surely yes. Mindfulness gives you that opportunity. Not in terms of the number of years lived, but in terms of the intensity of perception. Wandering in your thoughts, you seem to be asleep, life flies by. When you are aware of the moment, you are truly living. Subjectively, time starts flowing much slower - this is how it flowed for you in childhood. For a child, a year is a lot. For an adult it is almost an instant, the years flit by one after the other. Do you want to extend your life at times? Learn to live in the moment.
It is very difficult to learn to be aware of the current moment all the time, but it is possible. Learn to observe what you are doing - no matter what business you are doing. Choose something simple to start with. For example, you wash the dishes - do it consciously. Be aware of your every movement, watch the washing process, do not let your thoughts carry you away. And so with every case.
Gradually, you will begin to perceive being in the present moment as your true state - which it is. If you can get to the state of awareness and gain a foothold in it, you will acquire something for which it is not a pity to give all the money in the world. What exactly? Find out from your own experience.
