Awareness
How true awareness can enrich your life and help you find fulfillment and happiness.
I have a deep and fundamental belief that almost all humans make the best decision they can with the information that they have. Even when people make bad choices this can often be driven by psychological issues that have made their mind make misjudgements of self harming decisions based on previous abuse etc. and in some way this is still the best decision they can make at the time based on their own belief system and their own limited awareness.
There are a few questions I would like you to consider.
- Do humans have free choice?
- What level of awareness do most humans have?
- If humans have limited awareness, how much free choice do they really have?
Whilst you consider these questions I will state that it is my belief that without true awareness, we can not truly have free choice.
Imagine if you will that i give you a choice between two things and i ask you to select one. You will make the best decision you can between those two things. But given there are only two choices, you are making a decision (the best decision you can) based on a very limited selection (limited awareness). For most, neither of these selections will be optimal or favorites or life changing or fulfilling. Now imagine I pulled back a curtain and showed you an infinite number of options. I’m willing to bet that the vast majority wouldn’t pick item one or two anymore. While we had the capacity to use free choice to select from the two items, doesn’t it make sense that with an infinite number of options to which we are now aware, our capacity to choose freely has dramatically increased? Our ability to choose a better path and a better life infinitely improves.
This for most people closely resembles the life choices we make. Think about life choices. Why do most people choose to live the way they do? We are learning creatures. From the day we enter the world we learn from what we see, what we hear, what we taste, what we feel, what we smell and the entirety of our experiences and exposures. We learn from others and a parent’s influence is far greater for most. The question then is that whilst most parents love their children and want what is best for them, who is to say those parents are correct? What did they learn and where did they learn it from? Is their life even right for them?
I will say that numerous studies are conducted around a great many topics. There is much debate around which studies are more legitimate than others and often studies can be misconstrued based on who is funding the research. Rather than debate this, I am going to mention a study and then ask whether or not within yourself you consider it to be true.
A study reviewed a significant number of people near the end of their lives. The study was a research on regret. The two greatest regrets identified in this study were…
*That they got caught up, spending too much time at work and not enough time with family and those that they love
*That they did not live a life that was true to themselves
Search yourself and your own life and feelings and consider whether or not you believe these two regrets to be a reflection of the truth. I absolutely know that these are true and I hope you can see it too.
Most grow up loving their parents and wanting to please them. Many go into careers or live a life where their actions and choices are based on an inherent need to be loved and do their loved ones proud. All very legitimate human desires. But the truth deep down is often that a parent wants their children to be truly happy and free to make their own choices and live life their way, thus finding joy and fulfillment. It can therefore be a catch 22. Attempting to live a life that is at odds with what a parent believes creates fear in the parent and thus concern and a desire to try to guide the child down what they consider a better path, but if it was truly the better path, why are so many people still seeking to find fulfillment? The truth is, like you, your parents have been exposed only to limited input and have learnt what they know from others (normally their parents). The system of society also plays a huge role in this. However systems do not cater to the majority, rather a minority. Think of a school curriculum, designed around teaching at a median level on a bell curve. Only a few truly sit at the median level, the majority sit on either side of this median line and so it is with society. Societal norms often dictate our decision making choices, but they don’t need to, you are likely not the median to which these unwritten rules apply and even if you are, not every societal norm would apply to you anyway (not the version of you that would make you most happy anyway). At all times we could live our lives anyway we see fit, the only rule being that we do not cause harm or fear to others. We can live a good life, free to make true choices, to find fulfillment,but that’s the point, so many of us don’t have the awareness of any other options and thus we build a life confined by our limited awareness.
Some people live in houses, some in apartments, some in cities, some in country towns, some by the sea. Some travel around in buses and vans and live a nomadic lifestyle. Some take jobs in travel and travel the world. These are merely a miniscule sample of all life has to offer.
Now consider the societal norms of life. Attend school for 13 years, then further education for 4 plus years, then work at least 5 out of every 7 days until at least age 65. No one at 65 feels better than they did at a younger age. Society has taught us that we should trade all our time (the best years of our lives) for employment. Think about all the times we miss time with loved ones because of commitments to work and career. It costs money to survive, however if one looks at society as a whole, if humans have been working hard for generations, where is the wealth? Why are the next generation struggling now more than ever? It is in my view a majorly flawed system that we each contribute to by not having awareness of other options. There are numerous discussions to have around such topics, but I’d rather approach it like this. Of all the billions of people who have ever walked the earth, how many names do you know, how many are remembered? The answer even for a historian is an insignificant number. In a career, you can be the greatest in your firm, and the day you leave or retire, you are simply replaced. We all like the idea of a legacy, but I believe our true legacy is our loved ones. We could all attempt to develop our awareness around this concept and prioritize our true legacy, time with those we love. Do we need better cars, better homes or would we benefit more from living a simpler life spending as much time with loved ones as possible? I once chased materialistic things, now I question everything differently. If i have a choice regarding a car for instance i ask myself, how much extra time will i have to work and thus be away from loved ones to select one car over another. I make this analysis with all the major purchases I make. I no longer care about having nice things to impress others, I now value my time and my ability to be there for my children because time with them is what matters most to me, that is what my awareness taught me.
Awareness is the key to discovering our true selves and leading a truly fulfilling life. I would love to see a world where people spend more time searching for their feelings and sharing their stories to help themselves and others find a path to the things that make us truly happy.. A world where we can learn a greater awareness from those around us and prioritize the time we have so that we may lead our best lives.
The more awareness we have, the more we can truly utilize freewill.
MyLettersTo is the ideal place to share your stories and to discover a never ending archive of other people’s stories. MyLettersTo can help us all open our minds to the infinite wonders and opportunities in the world and can guide all of us to a happier, more fulfilling future where regret is a thing of the past.
Let’s consider this in another way. How many of you individually had any say in the establishment of the system of society that exists today? How many of you had a say in the laws and legislations that exist today? As an example, who genuinely believes the tax system is fair or remotely connected to any sense of reality? When multi billion dollar companies pay zero income tax, yet average workers pay income tax then land tax, sales tax, fuel excise tax etc etc.
The truth is that none of us had any say in the system that dictates our lives. However, with awareness, we can all come to understand that as individuals we do now contribute to this system by simply playing along with it. How many times do you hear something like, “Well that’s the best system we have ” or something along those lines. The truth is that with greater awareness we have a greater understanding not only of our role in society and our own lives, but also of opportunities to improve our lives and the human race as a whole.
Let us consider the notion of Democracy. Now a great many countries claim to be a democratic nation, and for the large part we have all accepted this as this is what we have been taught to believe from childhood. However, I would like to pose the simple question of “Do you actually live in a Democracy?” If you live in the USA, Australia, numerous European countries etc, most will quickly respond that yes they do. In order to consider this answer and our own awareness let me follow this question up. If in this democracy we have an opportunity to vote, however each candidate is aligned to one of 2 (or in some cases 3) political parties, is it truly democratic? My version of Democracy is that each given area has numerous candidates with no affiliations, but is there truly to represent the people of their area. They would receive the most votes and actually go and debate and discuss and fight for the rights of the people they represent in their area. Each representative from each area would do the same. This is democratic. However we have a system at play now where whomever one votes for, they are already affiliated with a political party. They are already beholden to the leadership of that party and must place party politics above the true needs of their constituents. It simply is not truly representative of a majority rule, but rather a system that not only is corrupt, but is controlled by the very few. It is not democratic, but simply a system designed with the illusion of democracy to appease the people and allow them to feel as if they have choice. Given the 2 (or 3) party system most countries have, the elected leaders are seldom an optimal choice. Think back to the earlier question about selecting from 2 drinks or an infinite number. With which circumstance are you truly able to use freewill?
I know we have been told that humans are incapable of choosing when too many choices exist, but this simply isn’t true and negates the fact that individual humans are capable of great intelligence. Once again the point is, how much awareness do we as individuals actually have? How much have we simply been told? How much have we actually just believed simply because as humans we are trusting? Has our trust been taken advantage of?
I will end now by saying that I greatly appreciate you taking the time to read and hopefully open your mind and consider what I have written. I believe that awareness is what will lead us as individuals and as a species to a more compassionate and loving existence. I also believe that as individuals we have the greatest of power and to create the world we seek, all we need to do is live that way. If you want a world of love and compassion and fairness and freedom whilst living happy and fulfilling lives, then we as individuals only need to live that way. Now imagine a world where everyone wakes up tomorrow and lives this way. The world can truly change overnight and you as the individual have the power to make that a reality.
Thanks to MyLettersTo for creating a platform that allows us to express ourselves and share our journeys and thoughts with others. I hope everyone has an amazing day.