I EXPRESS BECAUSE I AM AWARE

Do we really know ourselves? And if so, then how much?

Knowing about yourself is not just being aware of your hobbies, it is much more than what we imagine. Having a complete understanding of our emotions, thoughts, feelings, behavior, habits, and about our overall personality is what the concept of self- awareness focuses on. To know about ourselves, let’s try to complete a few sentences given below, keeping in mind your today’s day.

• I felt happy today because….

• I am grateful for…

• I am proud of myself for…

• I need to work on….

Were you able to complete these sentences? If yes, then appreciate yourself for being aware of such things, if not then don’t feel disheartened, but it's time, we accept and try to focus on giving time to understand about ourselves.

Every individual is different, special, and important, in the same way, the kind of emotions we experience are also different and important to be addressed.

1. To work on knowing or understanding about ourselves, we first need to accept our emotions, our feelings, thoughts, beliefs i.e. How am I feeling, am I happy, sad, or confused? What do I like or what makes me unhappy? A clear idea about oneself.

• Acceptance of our emotions does not only mean, placing importance or giving attention to what makes you happy, but it also highlights on being non-judgemental and unbiased in acceptance of emotions. No emotion is good or bad. Every emotion is different and needs to be addressed. An individual cannot be happy or motivated all the time. It’s absolutely right and acceptable to Not feel happy, motivated, positive all the time in your life. Emotionally healthy individuals acknowledge, accept, and express every emotion, also the ones that disrupt them. They don’t hold it till long, they give time to their thoughts and also release them. Don’t be hard on yourself.

• Give time to yourself, see if something disturbs you, try to accept it and say “It’s okay if I don’t feel okay all the time, “It’s okay that I am not feeling motivated”, “It’s okay if I want to cry out and stay alone for some time, to process my feelings”. When we start accepting it, we will start addressing and talking about our emotions (without putting conditions on expression). Seeking help from a mental health professional, if necessary. Observe your thoughts and emotions without becoming them. When we accept and understand our thoughts, we in turn accept others' emotions and thoughts.

This way, we can practice the idea of self-empathy, a strong sense of compassion and understanding for ourselves. It also helps us in understanding others genuinely.

2. Learning the importance of self-appreciation helps in knowing us about our strengths, paying gratitude for what we have, recognizing the values that lie in us.

• When asked about the qualities we often remember the ones which people have mentioned to us. From today, start writing 5 positive qualities about yourselves which are different from what people say to you. Irrespective of how big or small they are. keeping a journal helps in gaining control of our emotions and also this way we tend to focus on what makes us happy and aware of our potentials, which in turn increases our self-esteem. We experience a sense of satisfaction and also it makes us aware of what we can do when we feel sad or lonely. It automatically shifts your beliefs from “I am good at nothing” TO “praising for the things that make you feel superior about yourself”. Also, from “what will people think about me”, “how people like me”, “how they view me”, TO “how I want someone to perceive me”.

• 3. Self-awareness also includes self-regulation,i.e. working on the odds, noticing about our actions towards others, and asking for help when necessary, reducing negative self-talk with “I did wrong to I was not good, but I can work on it.” Choose not to blame people and things. Practicing the self-validating statements: “I am worthy and my feeling are valid”, “It’s okay to make mistakes and learn from them”, “I am learning, healing and growing”. Focusing on asking WHAT, rather than why i.e. “Why do I feel terrible”, TO “What are the situations that make me feel terrible and upset”?

• 4. Also, self-awareness focuses on self-analysis, i.e. observing our growth, if you are setting some habits then make sure you analyse the consistency.

Our emotions lead to a change in our thoughts, which in turn is related to change in our behaviour. Behaviour eventually leads to the creation of habit, and that’s how our personality is formed. Start focusing on every aspect of yourself; Accept, Work, and Appreciate yourself.

Also, there is saying by John Dryden “We first make our habits and then our habits make us”. Yours and everyone’s mental health matters, be aware of yourself, practice self-love, engage in self-talk, it’s okay to ask for help.