What Exactly Is Awakening And Am I Woke?
Awake And Aware
You literally get another chance to wake up every second of your life. When you notice what the mind says and/or what it does, you are awake.
When you change states to become the Observer, and notice the thought in your head as if someone else had said it, you are awake.
When you are awake you see thought as something separate from self.
-Gina Charles
It is when we forget to also be the Observer of thought …..
….. that all of our awareness gets sucked up into the mind's bubble of unnoticed thoughts, unexamined beliefs, and feel-bad stories.
You are not your unnoticed thoughts, unexamined beliefs and feel-bad stories. You are something much greater.
You are that which witnesses or observes the operating system, AKA the thinking mind.
The Ultimate Question
Waking up to thought, even sometimes, can create authentic transformation in your life. So I'll ask the ultimate question.
How do I wake myself up when I'm sleeping?
(The I'm-not-noticing-thought kind of sleeping!)
You do what it takes, of course.
Don't deprive yourself the hilarity of noticing some of the ridiculous, even unfounded thoughts blowing through your frontal lobe.
My operating system has become a source of free, slap-stick entertainment for my enjoyment! And it doesn't disappoint.
No Can Do
The operating system/thinking mind cannot wake itself up. Waking up is a happening. It rises independently from within. Like when something dawns on you, it just pops in on its own.
So if you can't wake yourself up, what can you do?
You keep bringing yourself back to the places where Waking up can find you.
I call it, waiting at the bus stop for the bus (instead of hanging out in the produce section of the supermarket complaining that no bus ever shows up for you!)
Go to where Waking up can find you, in the present moment. Eventually you're going to catch a ride.
How To Catch A Ride
You're limited only by your imagination, as they say. Here are a few things you can try to help bring you back to the bus stop:
Leave sticky notes for yourself. Inside the medicine cabinet, your drawer at work, in your closet, wallet, car, tool box, underwear drawer. You get the picture. Find the places that you're most asleep in thought, and stick your wake-up note there! Have fun with it. You can write things like, "Hey, you!", "There you are!", or even, "Snap out of it!"
Set a reoccurring timer or reminder on your phone.
Draw a tiny dot or marking of your choice on your hand, or the inside of your wrist, as a reminder to wake up to the present moment and to thought.
Add a "Wake-up call" to your daily planner or to-do list!
Set an intention to come into the present moment every time you wash your hands, take a bathroom break, crawl into bed, step onto the subway, or stop at a red light. You choose. I created a good habit by making an effort to get present and take a deep breath every time I washed my hands. Eventually the effort to do it disappeared, and I began noticing my body taking a deep, relaxing breath all on its own, that ushered me effortlessly into the present moment. It goes from happening BY you to happening FOR you.
Suffice it to say, you have skills, kid. Find them. Use them.
Once you're awake in the present moment, grab the last thought you had and examine it.
Ask yourself:
Is this thought an opinion or a fact?
Is this thought absolutely true, like 100% for sure true?
Is this a feel-bad thought, or a feel-good thought?
Is this thought in resistance to something?
Is this thought in my highest good?
Is this thought in the highest good of all?
If you feel elated after answering any of those questions then chances are it was a high-vibe thought that's attracting high-vibe stuff in to your tomorrows.
If you feel deflated and sour after answering any of those questions, then grab that thought and drop-kick it right out of your atmosphere!
Dismiss it as the small piece of poison it is.
Easy and Effortless
Don't believe the thinking mind if it's telling you that it doesn't have time for all this crazy note-sticking, drop-kicking nonsense.
The operating system will say anything to dismiss any effort to curtail its activity.
Do it anyway. Don't worry, the mind will get used to it.
So, if you are starting to notice some of the thoughts in your head, I mean really notice it, like as if you just heard someone else say it, then you are awakening. You will be able to tell if the thought feels bad, and choose the peace of the present moment over that pull, yearning, luring of the mind to suck up all of your attention into its unsupervised, feel-bad activity. Don’t fall for it.
It's time to get back into the cockpit.
It's time to take back the steering wheel of your life, instead of letting rote, unnoticed thought and feel-bad programming create your tomorrow and the days after that.
It's time to clear the runway and get airborne!
EMPOWERMENT:
When I notice thought as something separate from Self, I am awake and connected to my power.
If you'd like more information on Awakening, see:
https://www.ginacharles.com/blog/what-is-fuel-your-life
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~You are meant for amazing things.~