Let’s talk about awareness and the lack thereof.

I am not talking about the lack of awareness when we, texting or talking on a phone, trustingly walk behind a parked car in reverse without a glimpse to ensure we won’t be flattened. Or when we lead our family down the center of a one-way parking lane with little regard as a car nips at our heels.

While simple lack of awareness can be dangerous and disturbing, even more disturbing is the lack of self-awareness that pervades our culture and lives. Merriam-Webster defines self-awareness as an awareness of one’s own personality or individuality. I invite you to expand upon this with THRIVE’s knowing of self-awareness as conscious observation that can be used to interrupt subconscious programming already in place, allowing you to discern which programs you would like to update to grow and experience life better.

I don’t recall being introduced to this skill of self-awareness in school nor in corporate trainings, yet it is needed. I have found it is the first step to truly know myself and how I want to experience life.

My lack of self-awareness up to this point in life, or at least the lack of knowingly practicing self-awareness, has left me wondering about any fullness of life that I may have missed. I celebrate the depth brought to my everyday life through awareness of my self-awareness (see what I did there?!…). Making my ordinary, extraordinary.

Today a vibrant monarch butterfly danced so close to my head that if I had been on my phone, unaware, I would have swatted the “pesky leaf floating in the breeze” to the ground. Instead, I marveled at nature’s beauty and the message of rebirth, change and transformation. A validation of my inner knowing that self-awareness is key to living my life to the fullest.