We have all been given the gift of choice. We can choose our goals, choose how to react in certain situations and choose what to make of our life. Yet, often we drift through life on auto-pilot, not really taking time to think why we are doing what we are doing. In fact, psychologists say that only 5% of our actions are conscious. The rest of our behavior is automatic and it is not something that we can change overnight.

Think how often you say something without thinking? Or have to go back and check if you have locked your car? Or how sometimes you pull into the driveway with no recollection of the half-hour commute home?

I try to bring consciousness into my life as much as I can, and I still catch myself doing all of the things described above.

Living consciously is not as easy as it may seem. You can not do it once and then relax happily. It requires constant mental effort and a lot more of your cognitive resources, because you have to think about every decision, every action that you make, rather than reacting automatically and going with the flow.

But as we learn to be more conscious about our choices and our actions, we immediately see the positive changes in our life: our relationships with other people improve, we gain clarity, instead of just drifting through the fog of uncertainty and indifference, and we suddenly become more aware of the beauty of nature, the kindness of people and the little joys of life that we were too busy to notice earlier.

Here are some key tips that have helped me to bring more awareness into my life and that will hopefully work for you as well:

1. Practice active meditation.

“Awareness without action is worthless.” ~ Phil McGraw

Most of us are familiar with the concept of meditation and are practicing it as well. What I want to talk to you about in this article is not the regular meditation that you are used to. Active meditation can be practiced at any time, any place and it is a great way to bring more awareness into your life, while still getting all the Benefits of regular Meditation.

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I have a weird question for you, one you have probably been asked ten times before, – Do you see a glass as half-full or half-empty? My friend’s daughter asked me the same question yesterday and when I said, “half full” without even thinking she laughed and said, “No!” I was puzzled…“Why not?”… “Because it is both!”

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