Lately I have been thinking more and more that there are many folks “sleep-walking” through life. They place a value on what they do and how they do it, but on someone else’s terms, fueled by years (actually generations upon generations) of expectations and “norms” that somehow along with the “third and fourth dimensions” got established as belief systems. A good chunk of the earth’s population buy into these belief systems so much so that they define what will make them happy or at peace, what will move them up in the work place, what will make them “more attractive” or popular to others—and what they “need to do,” “need to have,” or “need to be” to progress through life. (Note—everything you “need” you already have within you.)

They become judgmental of themselves and of others—and create negativity and doubt. They are unconscious! And forget that they always are at choice in what they believe and how they create their lives.  Think about it this way. If you are walking around thinking that life is a struggle and think you have no “control” over what happens in your life, you blame others, feel sorry for yourself or think by having more (fill in the blank—time, money, love, etc.) you will be happy or successful, you are sleep-walking. You may think you are awake, but you are going through life on auto-pilot and not really living YOUR life or being true to your SELF.

When you are going through life in this unconscious state you are stuck in your day-to-day existence and have a narrow or an attached perspective—and you can’t step back to see the bigger picture and allow yourself to have a detached perspective.  You are reacting to things that are happening in your life and “using” your memory or past experiences in how you react. You have lost sight that actually you created all these events and experiences.

Waking up will allow you to have that detached perspective and you will see how the choices you make impact what presents itself in your life.  This is quite powerful—not only to your being but to the collective. As more and more people “wake-up” this will have an amazing universal impact—change. It will evolve—if not turn on its head—the unfortunate current state of expectations, judgment, criticality and negativity in today’s world—so that we all can realize a more enlightened and joyful existence.

So you may say—how do I wake up? A first step is to remind yourself that it is not what you are “doing” that is important—but what you are “being.”  Stop defining yourself by what you do, where you work or study, who your “friends” are, etc., and be honest with yourself about yourself. Learn to accept yourself and love yourself—and stop living by others’ expectations.

Stop judging yourself and condemning yourself. Stop taking the words of others for defining bad or good or right or wrong about you.

Be honest about your motivations and instincts.

Let yourself be vulnerable. I know—this can be a scary one. But let go of the concept of control. Just be you and take chances. Try new things. Embrace what makes you unique. Give yourself permission to be you!

Be in the moment. Stop thinking about the past and worrying about the future. Meet yourself where you are at and be in that moment. Savor those moments—let yourself be happy, be sad, just be!

Try not to have regrets or have the mindset that all good things must end. For instance how many times have you just had a great day, spent time with someone special or were at a wonderful celebration—but when it’s over you feel sad. So try to smile that it happened and you had that experience, and you were in that moment vs feeling down that it’s over. Carry the good and joy with you—in your heart.

And be sincere about your intentions. Be conscious of your thoughts, words and actions.

So I hope today if you are “sleep-walking” that you start to nudge yourself to wake up. The world needs more of us in the awake state!