By: Linda Sapadin
"I agree with my husband when he says he hasn't changed that much. It's just that I've become more conscious of being dissatisfied with our relationship."
"I'm only 35 years old. But since September 11th, I've become much more conscious of my mortality."
Living a conscious life happens (whether we want it to or not) as we become more knowledgeable, more aware, less ignorant, less innocent. The good part about becoming more fully conscious is that it helps us develop a healthy concern for our well-being, as well as expands our capacity to relate to other people in the world. The bad part about becoming more fully conscious is that it can drive us crazy with worry and concern for things over which we may have little control.
Our consciousness changes over time, sometimes to our embarrassment, sometimes to our astonishment. Have you ever looked back at something you did and wondered, "What was I thinking?" Or looked at a photo and mused, "How could I have worn that outfit?" Or remembered a decision that you made and nodded your head in admiration at how much courage you had at the time.
Sometimes we need to be instructed to be conscious of things that would just fly by us if we weren't deliberately taught to be aware of them. For example, some free spenders need to become more conscious of where their dollars go, while those who are overweight need to become more conscious of what they eat. Heightened security measures have made us all more conscious of danger in public places. Sensitivity training makes us more conscious of what we might say or do that may be hurtful to others.
As we live life, we become conscious of very different things. Yet, we are not in any danger of becoming a multiple personality disorder. We may joke around and say, "I've lived 3 distinct lives," or "I used to be a very different person"; yet, we have no trouble knowing who we are and what we're about. Our core identity remains stable, despite the fact that many things that occupy our minds today were not in our consciousness just a few short years ago. Indeed, what's so frightening about Alzheimer's is that with brain disease, one can lose not only one's memory of events, but one's core identity -- an awareness of "who I am," "where I live," "who I belong to."
In general, our attitudes and our choices are heavily influenced by what we are conscious of at any moment in time. On a typical day, we are usually conscious of the "same old stuff." It is not at all unusual for us, however, to vary and deviate from our typical selves for an evening, a week or just a moment. As we expand our consciousness, we continue to update and remodel our personalities so that we can live in the present as responsible, empathetic, interesting, aware people.
Linda Sapadin, Ph.D. is a psychologist in private practice who specializes in individual, couple and family therapy. Copyright 2002
AA Conscious Life
"My mother isn't even conscious that her criticism is so hurtful to me. Even though I've told her, she continues to see herself as just being helpful."
"I agree with my husband when he says he hasn't changed that much. It's just that I've become more conscious of being dissatisfied with our relationship."
"I'm only 35 years old. But since September 11th, I've become much more conscious of my mortality."
Living a conscious life happens (whether we want it to or not) as we become more knowledgeable, more aware, less ignorant, less innocent. The good part about becoming more fully conscious is that it helps us develop a healthy concern for our well-being, as well as expands our capacity to relate to other people in the world. The bad part about becoming more fully conscious is that it can drive us crazy with worry and concern for things over which we may have little control.
Our consciousness changes over time, sometimes to our embarrassment, sometimes to our astonishment. Have you ever looked back at something you did and wondered, "What was I thinking?" Or looked at a photo and mused, "How could I have worn that outfit?" Or remembered a decision that you made and nodded your head in admiration at how much courage you had at the time.
Sometimes we need to be instructed to be conscious of things that would just fly by us if we weren't deliberately taught to be aware of them. For example, some free spenders need to become more conscious of where their dollars go, while those who are overweight need to become more conscious of what they eat. Heightened security measures have made us all more conscious of danger in public places. Sensitivity training makes us more conscious of what we might say or do that may be hurtful to others.
As we live life, we become conscious of very different things. Yet, we are not in any danger of becoming a multiple personality disorder. We may joke around and say, "I've lived 3 distinct lives", or "I used to be a very different person"; yet, we have no trouble knowing who we are and what we're about. Our core identity remains stable, despite the fact that many things that occupy our minds today were not in our consciousness just a few short years ago. Indeed, what's so frightening about Alzheimer's is that with brain disease, one can lose not only one's memory of events, but one's core identity---an awareness of 'who I am', 'where I live' , 'who I belong to'.
In general, our attitudes and our choices are heavily influenced by what we are conscious of at any moment in time. On a typical day, we are usually conscious of the 'same old stuff'. It is not at all unusual for us, however, to vary and deviate from our typical selves for an evening, a week or just a moment. As we expand our consciousness, we continue to update and remodel our personalities so that we can live in the present as responsible, empathetic, interesting, aware people.
Linda Sapadin, Ph.D. is a psychologist in private practice who specializes in individual, couple and family therapy. Copyright 2002
