Awareness and Action

AWARENESS AND ACTION

Cl. Mario D’Couto SDB

            In my one of the previous articles, I had written about the importance of change [Please refer to the old posts, “The Power of Change”] and how it affects our lives. There are 2 ways by which change can take place. The first is the gradual change that takes place without one’s consent as in the case of change of matter, body growth, seasons and so on. The second one is the change that we want to see. While the former may not be so much under our control, the second one certainly is. This is what brings me to the topic of this article.

            While it is true that there are many things that we cannot control, there is one thing that we can control and that is our “Will.” As it is rightly said that the journey of a thousand miles begins with one single step, this single step towards change is “Awareness.”

            Socrates, one of the world’s greatest philosophers and thinkers once made a simple statement, “Know Thyself.” Sometimes the hardest thing in life is to know one’s self. We know so many things but at times, it could happen that we do not know our own selves and yet this is the most crucial element when it comes to change. Imagine a sick patient going to a doctor. The doctor tries to diagnose the sickness and this is done precisely to make the patient aware about his or her sickness. If the process of diagnoses is not carried out, then it would be very hard to give the proper medicine.

            In the same way, awareness acts as an antidote to one’s problems. It helps us to become aware of where we stand at the present moment. Hence, in connection with this, it is important to not compare your weakness with someone else’s strong points. Rather, what would be more fulfilling is to compete with one’s own self and try to improve on whatever aspect one wants to improve. It is like a person trying to break his or her own records. This is perhaps one of the surest ways of achieving one’s target. On further examining, we see that it is so true. When we set standards for our own selves and are not so overtly preoccupied with what others do or say, I think we certainly have a chance to make it to the top. 

              However, this does not in any way imply a sort of wishful thinking for as a famous Chinese proverb goes, “If you want to realize your dreams then wake up.” For as a saying goes, “Thoughts beget actions,” it is the action that comes after the thought. An action cannot come before a thought. Although there are some exceptional cases, generally speaking, in most cases, it is the thought that precedes the action.


            William James, one of the world’s greatest psychologists, would say, “It would almost be better never to have an inspiring thought than to have it and fail to act on it.” Hence, while it is true that thoughts are very important, a thought would be very incomplete if it were not for the action, especially when it is about achieving a person’s dreams and goals. 

Popular posts from this blog

In the world yet not of the world

Image
  IN THE WORLD YET NOT OF THE WORLD MARIO D’COUTO           Being in the world and yet not of it is something that can be a struggle, at least for me and what I mean by that is in as much as we desire to be good and to do good, God is not going to put a glass jar over us and say that just because we choose to love Him and follow Him more closely, that He is going to shield us from the temptations of this world. To make things clear though, this is not to say that the world in itself is bad or evil nor are the things found in the world either but how we deal with it is what will make us or break us. We all have responsibilities and important things that need our attention. If we are not careful though, our hearts and minds can be consumed with the task of keeping them afloat. Rather than centering ourselves in Christ and letting the other elements of our lives take their rightful place around that center, we can end up shifting our attention fr...
Read more

The Gift of Life

  THE GIFT OF LIFE  Mario D’Couto  The above video may seem to put human existence in a rather pessimistic way as if to say that our lives did not really matter and while no doubt there is some element of truth in it, I still feel that if lived well, there is meaning and purpose to our lives and that none of our lives is some sort of haphazard creation.  As I celebrate my gift of life tomorrow, I suddenly began to think that if we compare ourselves to the vastness of the universe and everything else that exists in it, we may perhaps be nothing more than a tiny dot floating on the surface of the earth and yet in as much as such a thing may appear insignificant, the One who created everything chooses to have a personal relationship with that tiny dot, that is, ourselves. This is something truly uplifting, which gives meaning and purpose to our lives and our existence. At the same time, it is also a reminder for us to stay grounded especially in those moments when w...
Read more

Are you creative?

Image
  ARE YOU CREATIVE? Mario D’Couto                         Can you imagine a world without creativity? What would the world look like if there was no creativity? Well, for all we can expect, it would be pretty boring and dull. There would be no speech, no songs, no tools, no ideas such as love, freedom or democracy. It would be an existence so mechanical and impoverished that none of us would want to be a part of.             To achieve the kind of world we consider human, some people had to dare to break the thrall of tradition. Next, they had to find ways of recording those new ideas or procedures that improved on what went on before. Finally, they had to find ways of transmitting the new knowledge to the generation to come. Those who were involved in this process we call creative. What we call culture or those parts of our selves that we internalized from the social...
Read more