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Pia Richardson opinion: Self-awareness can result in a positive change

Pia RichardsonGeraldton Guardian
Life coach and hynotherapist Pia Richardson.
Camera IconLife coach and hynotherapist Pia Richardson.

Self-awareness is probably one of the things I go on about the most on any given day.

If there are two things I like to get on my soapbox about it would be that and the idea that selfishness, humility and self-love have been seriously misrepresented over time. But that’s a conversation for another day.

Today I want to talk about self-awareness. How often do you stop and think about why you do what you do? How often do you check in with yourself and ask how you’re going? If you had to name your feelings, could you? That’s not to say that you’re doing anything wrong if you can’t — if you were never taught, how can you know?

If you don’t know how you’re feeling, at least try to locate it in your body, it will tell you a lot.

It starts by checking in with yourself once a week, asking yourself why you seem to be eating more or drinking more or grinding your teeth to dust (I say this last one with intimate personal experience.)

If you don’t know how you’re feeling, at least try to locate it in your body, it will tell you a lot.

Perhaps it’s a lump in your throat signalling sadness, anxiety manifesting as a ball in your stomach or in contrast a feeling of lightness signalling joy. When you start to recognise what’s happening for you, you start to realise where it’s coming from, and when you start to realise where it’s coming from you can begin to make a change. A small, consistent change.

The beautiful thing about cultivating self awareness is that it doesn't only impact you, it also impacts those around you. Before you know it you’re no longer stumbling around blindly — inadvertently spilling your emotional mess on everyone you meet.

You see, we all impact the world we live in whether we like it or not and we are faced with a choice — am I going to practise self-awareness and own my impact on the world or am I going to let the impact of my lack of self-awareness own me?

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