"Who Am I?"
Who or what do you see yourself as first? Do you first see yourself as a parent, child, Child of God, your career title, I mean the possibilities are endless. You see, I do not ask this question lightly. Not too long ago, I had to ask myself this question and after hours of silence in a car with my dogs as well as the fresh air of Highway 1, it came to me. I was having a quarter life crisis wondering how I got where I was and why _____ affected me so much.
At times we do not get to realize who we are, who we portray ourselves as, and how we got somewhere until we are in a crisis, but do we have to wait until then? I was told a few times before this point that I needed to engage in awareness practices or otherwise stated, that I needed to be mindful in everything that I do, but no one was there to teach me what that meant. Let me try to help you understand. Bear with me, I am one for analogies.
To be mindful is to be one with yourself, to be aware of how you feel, how you got to feel that way, how you talk to yourself, your inner thoughts, perceptions... I mean you name it, the list goes on. To be mindful and aware, you must live and think in each moment, take a breath, look around, connect with everything. Go ahead, appreciate the land like Pocahontas as "every rock and tree and creature, has a life, has a spirit, has a name". Teach others to love all things in life like Joe from Soul. Learn to be in touch with your feelings from gloomy to enthusiastic like Joy and Sadness from Inside Out. To truly live in the present you must be mindful about your actions. Remember, although we try, we cannot live in the past and we cannot live in the future, we can only live in the right here and now.
To set a goal and accomplish it, you must first understand who you are, how you got there, you must think of what barriers may prolong your accomplishments then choose what you'd like to maintain, what you'd like to change, and then actively participate in your life. Participate in every breath, thought, smell, taste, touch, sound, see what is in front of you, embrace how each thing makes you feel. You are who you are, love yourself for it and love yourself enough to trust yourself to make the right choices.