Article for reprint:
Change Your Life with the

Don’t wait for the cosmic 2x4 to whack you into awareness.
Wake yourself up gently with the
!
We don’t know where the concept of the cosmic 2x4 originated, but we suspect
almost everyone has experienced being hit with some kind of traumatic event that
literally forced us to wake up to a new level of awareness. Some of us even have
an ongoing relationship with that divinely-guided block of wood.
As much as we may benefit from these rude wake-up calls, wouldn’t you prefer a
more subtle and manageable approach to growth? We want to offer that to you.
Allow us to introduce the
!
We have been exploring personal and spiritual growth for over 30 years.
Reflecting on our own history and that of the many hundreds we’ve coached
online, we’ve perceived this basic framework for life:
- The '2': No matter what we are doing or not doing, our participation in life
can always be reduced to one of two atates: experience or manifestation.
- The '3': Our journey typically progresses through three stages of life. Just
one way to describe these three stages is reactive, proactive and intuitive.
Each stage has its own opportunities and challenges. And for each stage, we need
to use the right tools, approaches and perspectives appropriate for that phase.
Let’s look at these more closely.
Life's 2-step dance
Life on planet Earth revolves around duality. There is a yin and yang, feminine
and masculine, an inflow and outflow. On our site, we call it "Know and Grow."
Every moment, we are:
- Experiencing: We are touched by life and experience it through our awareness
and our perceptions (e.g., is the glass of water half full or half empty?).
or
- Manifesting: We also touch life back. We engage it, influence it, and create
our own reality.
The quality of our life depends on how conscious we are of our experience and
the choices and decisions we make which manifest our reality. If we are not
conscious and fully present in the moment, our subconscious mind governs what
unfolds. Our subconscious mind holds tremendous power over us through our
programmed belief systems and attitudes. At the same time, it also offers us
unlimited potential because it is the gateway to our higher spiritual mind.
The journey of life invites us to solve the mystery of how we evolve, co-create,
attract to us and allow life to be more meaningful, happy and healthy. So the
ongoing dynamic dance of life is the interplay of our experiencing and our
expression. As we expand our experience through awareness, we evolve and create
more, so we can experience and create more once again.
Life's 3 levels of consciousness
To begin, we wish to acknowledge the complexity of life and confess that
assigning only three levels of consciousness is, without question, a
simplification. However, we have found defining the journey through three stages
to be very helpful. There are many ways of defining these three levels, which
we’d like to share with you over time. Here's just one of them:
- Reactive: From a very young age, we build up belief systems, defences and
habits to support us in navigating life. This blueprint gets programmed into the
subconscious mind, which increasingly gains control of our behaviour. Outer
circumstances trigger automatic and unconscious reactions from us. Because we’re
functioning so much on autopilot, this stage can be characterized by coping,
limited and typically negative thinking, emotional reactions, self centeredness,
victimhood and a need to control. We tend to allow others to tell us what to do.
The focus may be primarily on materialism and pleasure.
- Proactive: As we mature, develop the mind and become more self-aware, we
understand more about how we function in the world. We begin to release old
patterns, gain control of reactive emotions, and become more accountable. As we
take greater responsibility for ourselves, we become more independent and
proactive in setting our own direction. Our outlook becomes more positive and we
begin to trust our imagination. Feeling empowered, our lives are more dynamic
and interesting. We have more interest in the well-being of others.
- Intuitive: With further inner work, we gain self responsibility and
confidence and increasingly release judgment. The independence of the proactive
stage gives way to interdependence as we appreciate the value of connecting with
others. At this level, we surrender our will to higher guidance. We gain clarity
of purpose and our life becomes more meaningful. We make more sense of our world
and our place in it.
Naturally, the three stages are not mutually exclusive. If we’re living
primarily in any stage, we can still experience episodes from the other two.
We have found that the challenges, opportunities, growth tools, intentions and
understanding of universal laws vary from one level to another. For example,
someone feeling victimized and struggling to cope is not ready to hear, let
alone live by the universal laws of how life works. So it is important to have
access to the most effective tools and perspectives at the right time in our
lives.
So what is the
and
how can it help?
First, the
it helps us grasp the importance of
living consciously in the present moment, so we register our experience and act
appropriately from it. Second, it offers a sample road map of how life can
unfold, with signposts and guidance to support each leg of the journey. It helps
immensely to have a sense of the big picture. This helps us to know where we are
now, perhaps where we’ve moved from and what may be waiting down the road. It
offers support as we make paradigm shifts in how we experience and manifest our
lives from one level to the next.
We experience the world and all its influences on us at different levels of
consciousness. As we grow in consciousness, we experience new levels of
awareness. As our belief systems change, our experiences change as well,
affirming that life can work for us when we understand the basic principles. As
we develop more self trust, we expand who we are and our vision and the quality
of our lives expand with us.
Knowing how to both release and anchor beliefs and engage laws, goals and
creativity in different ways appropriate to our abilities, we can gently and
proactively raise our level of consciousness – without the 'help' of that
daunting cosmic
2x4!
We at Higher Awareness welcome you to take many of our personal development and
consciousness journey programs. Those marked with the
icon will guide you in
experiencing and manifesting at the three different levels.
What leg of your journey are you on? How aware are you of your moment by moment
decision making? What are you intentionally manifesting so you can experience
more fulfillment in life?
Apply the
and see what unfolds for you!
John and Patrice Robson
Higher Awareness (http://www.higherawareness.com)
Know yourself and Grow yourself with Higher Awareness.
Check out our other
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on other personal growth topics.