The Upgraded Self
Why is it that most of us leave ourselves at the bottom of the list when it comes to creating a better life?
One of my teachers said that the order of our attention for a fruitful life is: first Self, second Life and third Others. This may seem counter intuitive to what we do at the moment. Here are a couple of questions you might like to consider the answer to.
‘How does your life run when you are empty with nothing left to give?’
’How would your life run differently if you focused on yourself and were continuously upgrading to the best version of you?’
Okay, you may say that seems a lot of work, and yes, it requires commitment, vision, will and continuous effort. Having said that the result in terms of how life shapes itself in response to your willingness and your level of engagement with others rises exponentially when you become conscious of your own patterns and habits.
We are profoundly lucky, as humans we are able to change and upgrade ourselves. This is especially true at this time in the 21st century where we have more time, more resources and more ways to expand ourselves consciously than probably any time in the past. And yet we bury ourselves on Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, TV or WhatsApp streams, political stories and many other distractions that actually will keep us asleep, stuck and perhaps even moving backwards. This kind of activity shuts out the light and can lead to hopelessness.
Imagine yourself as an animal for a moment e.g. a fox. A fox will adapt to its environment and we’ve seen this with a shift from the country fox to the urban fox. It does so without self-consciousness or self-reflection. This is a response to external conditions driven by needs rather than a choice with no conscious shift of identity. The urban fox does not know it is an urban fox – it just is.
We on the other hand, have an almost infinite choice. Think of how many times as you grew up, you shifted your identity responding to external changes. Remember, and as you do, notice that in almost every situation you had some sort of choice, you were able to apply your mind, heart and actions to meet the situation and either accept or reject those changes.
Take this a step forward and ask yourself:
‘What possibilities and opportunities am I denying myself by staying in my current groove?’
‘What am I not seeing about myself that would allow me to upgrade my attitude and approach to Self, Life and Others?’
‘How many ways could I be happier and have more joy and pleasure from my life?’
Sad to say that our propensity to be distracted by trivia and run our lives on automatic pilot means we are asleep to the full potential of ourselves as human beings.
The question is ‘Are you ready and willing to engage and upgrade yourself have more choice, resources and fun?’
Time for an Upgrade!
