Though your Habits of Health journey may have initially been motivated by how you look, how you feel, or your desire to live a longer life, you have likely learned by now that the more we work on your mind, the easier it becomes to navigate all areas of your life. You have the awareness and the tools to make healthier choices and to find meaningful fulfillment in your life, your health giving you the freedom to pursue the things that matter most to you.
Emotional coherence or mastery puts you firmly in the driving seat of your life. It puts you in control and really sets the stage for all future growth. Your level of awareness and self-awareness will continue to expand as you become a higher version of yourself.
This part of your journey is on page 482 of Your LifeBook, but even if you are just beginning, I’d like to share a high-level view of consciousness with you so that you can see one of the ultimate rewards coming to you in the future.
Four Progressive States
Most of us settle in at a rather fixed level of awareness and maturity because it is all our world was asking of us 30 years ago. It’s because everything is changing so rapidly that the need to progress our awareness and advance our level of consciousness has never been more important.
A fish swimming in water has no idea that it is swimming in water even though its whole life and very existence is determined by water. We humans are not so different. We swim along in our own river of consciousness and have a tendency to think that everyone else is swimming in the same pool, seeing the same things, feeling the same, thinking the same, and looking at the world in the same way.
That’s simply not true.
As we decide to grow, learn, and develop our consciousness, we will expand to a bigger and bigger river, then our experiences and thoughts will become wider and deeper.
Our reality will become clearer and our depth, perception, and insight will grow. There are several books written on the progressive level of consciousness, but for now, let’s limit ourselves to four progressive states that are specific to reaching optimal health and wellbeing.
Those states are as follows:
Level One: Self-Interest
Survival, belonging, feeding our self-esteem–this is the normal level of development that we all go through from our birth until we leave parental authority. It is very much about our ego and making sure that we are being looked after. We look at life through our own eyes and everyone else is secondary.
Level Two: Actualized Self
We are now moving beyond what was taught to us and are ready to explore what really matters to us as an individual. We need to figure out what works best for us in the world. We may even change our orientation and identity as we find out what is important to us, thereby moving beyond the recipe we followed growing up.
Level Three: Integrated Self
This level of development requires you to have mastered emotional literacy and to have done the work on the areas of your thinking that have not served your best interests.
Level Four: Selflessness Self
At this level, life really has no struggles. We are no longer frustrated or judgemental, and negative emotions are gone from our days. We are compassionate all the time. Life is happening through us, and we feel very connected to something bigger than us. This state continues to grow as we develop our spirituality and connect to a higher level of consciousness, either through our religion or our own spirituality.
Keep Going
Each of these levels builds on the previous level, so as we grow from one level to the next, the landscapes become more complex. We will begin to add contrast to how we think, which will also add potential challenges. If you have started your Habits of Health journey, you have already made progress on this front even if you didn’t realize it.
The same tools you’re using today to reprogram your Habits of Disease have an amazing depth of potential to transform your life, so keep going. You have so many great things to look forward to!