The Scariest Thing of All!

It’s spooky season and I can’t help but be reminded of the scariest thing to me. And that is the lack of self awareness that pervades so much of humanity. Really, what could be scarier.

Self awareness or self reflection allows us the tools to see, feel and metabolize not just our own feelings and behavior but how our feelings affect our behavior and, in turn, how our behavior effects others. Without self awareness our ability to behave in a way that is compassionate and helpful becomes grossly diminished or completely absent. Think about those evenings after a long day. You may be physically tired and/or emotionally exhausted. The likelihood of loosing your temper rises exponentially when encountering a situation that would typically be a slight irritation. In the self aware there’s the possibility to make the adjustment to their behavior when reacting to a situation which would normally be irritable. For with self awareness there is an understanding of the suffering of others. But beware! The consequence of the effects of self awareness is an expectation of others to have an equal measure of compassion towards you. This, unfortunately, is not the case. Even so, the learned practitioner remains steady in mind, without abusive reaction to the behaviors of others.

In the yoga Sutra, self-awareness is the key to overcoming our ignorance, the source of pain and suffering. It is a bold and challenging step to witness one’s own behaviors, harmful or otherwise, and even more challenging to make the change in effort to improve one’s compassion and understanding. The truly advanced do not shy away from this challenge!