Living consciously is the process of learning to achieve balance between the long term development of the soul and the short term needs of the body – in order to find lasting happiness…

When we do not act consciously, we respond to stimuli in a reactive manner – lashing out verbally or physically, unaware of why we do so.

When not conscious, we tend to blame others for our woes and for feeling irritated, unfulfilled, frustrated – it is always someone else’s fault.

When conscious, we take responsibility for our own actions – and when we do so, we are no longer able to lash out, to react negatively or to blame others for how we feel.

Instead, we make changes to our expectations, or become more compassionate for the feelings and sufferings of those around us.

Our bodies make constant demands on us – they need to be fed, tended to, loved and protected.

If one or more of these external stimuli is missing, there is a reaction which is almost instantaneous – hunger, anger, frustration, feeling unloved.

It is very easy in these instances to say or do something that we later regret once the initial demands of the body/mind have subsided.

By shining the light of consciousness upon ourselves, we are attempting to interrupt this knee jerk reaction and give ourselves time to consider what is the loving thing to do in a situation – what is the best response for our long term happiness?

Do we best serve our own happiness by lashing out verbally at loved ones whenever we are tired, hungry, bored or sad?

Of course not…

Our challenge is to remember who we are and who we want to be – we need to see ourselves through the eyes of those who love us and try every day to be the person that they believe us to be.