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What is self-awareness? Its importance in life

Self-awareness is about making the hidden parts of ourselves, – those parts not visible to the eye – visible. Knowing what we want in life, what we really desire, or how we really feel about a certain situation, is crucial when it comes to making important decisions. It is also an important component of happiness because self-awareness leads to a more authentic living. Authenticity is the very essence of well-being (Wood et al., 2008).

Unfortunately, there are many obstacles to our way towards a better understanding of ourselves. Today, we are going to talk about one of them. It is presented here as a spectrum because the degree of difficulty depends on the individual and their special circumstances. In any case, being afraid of our self, our thoughts, and feelings, and being critical about them, can be an obstacle in increasing our self-awareness. We could also say that self-worth, self-awareness, authenticity, and happiness are interwoven and interdependent.

“Obstacles to self-awareness

I am not good enough.

I am inadequate, insufficient, or even bad.”

Obstacles to self-awareness

Many people avoid diving into their inner world because they think that they will discover or face something ugly regarding their personal qualities, or their characters. As long as we are scared to touch these parts, we may fall into a vicious circle of feeling unworthy and emotionally desperate, with all the consequences, and costs (depression, resignation, withdrawal, etc.)

How to overcome feelings of unworthiness that block our way to self-awareness. 

It is good to know that most of the time, what we consider to be frightening is not actually that scary. Thoughts and feelings, even if they are “bad” or unbearable, are nothing more than compasses that, within a context of a confident, moral living and proper guidance, show to us what we want and desire in life. They become the cornerstone of taking the right direction to achieving what we really want because it shows us what is missing in order to feel happy. Contrary to what we believe, the majority of the time, if we face them with courage, they can help restore our sense of self-worth and self-respect.

Thoughts and feelings are not there to act upon them without any consideration, with all their catastrophic consequences. They are there to show us where we stand at the moment regarding a certain situation or other people and as such are valuable alliances to our progress and personal development. We should not be afraid of them as long as we know that. They are not there to hurt us, they are there to help us improve our life.

Example

Let us say that you envy the happiness or achievements of another person. (PS. Envy is a feeling that is not always easily detected). But let us say that we were able to detect it. We wish to destroy the other person in our thoughts and fantasies, and this is what envy is all about. This can be quite scary. Or humiliating. Or inappropriate, etc. But if we know that the feeling emerging from our inner world is there to help us understand something about ourselves, then we can use it for that very reason. Not for acting upon it.  But to use it as a starting point of positive change.

There are several things that such a feeling may reveal. For example, that the other person has something that we do not have.  Therefore, it shows us what is missing from our lives. It also shows to us that what is missing is not the fault of the person that we envy.

Such a realization channels our energy to a more creative direction:  from envying the other person to taking action to improve our situation. To summarize, allowing ourselves to experience feelings of envy can be to our benefit if we use them constructively. Suppressing feelings or thoughts is the main problem for not achieving a better understanding of ourselves (self-awareness).

Related reading on SHARE Lv

Follow the link below for a better understanding of how to improve self-awareness through unbiased processing and how it could help us:

Georgiadi, E. (2020). How to improve self-awareness. Unbiased processing.

Follow the link below, to understand how denial works in our emotional and mental life:

Georgiadi, E.(2018). Denial: an obstacle to happiness and fulfillment. An etymological approach.

Follow the link below to learn more about how to use criticism and (self-criticism), creatively:

Georgiadi, E. (2018). Criticism, confidence, and self-development

Understand how to better deal with fear by following the link below:

Georgiadi, E. (2021).  Winston Churchill quotes. How to overcome fear.

Finally, what self-worth is, and why it is important in life? Feeling better about yourself will help become more courageous with getting to know yourself:

Georgiadi, E. (2018) Self-worth. An inalienable right. Implications for parenting and relationships.

Image

Sigurdur Gudmundsson: Daydream, 1980

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Elissavet Georgiadis (Mental Health Professional – PgDipMT, GSMD – City University)