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.
Like a fish swimming in water, you may have no idea that you are swimming in water even though your whole life and very existence is determined by water. We, as humans, are swimming along in our own river of consciousness. We 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.
Truly Seeing Yourself and the World Around You
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 the moment, let’s limit it to four progressive states that are specific to reaching optimal health and wellbeing, which will serve you well in your social world.
Your LifeBook explores this in depth, starting on page 482, but here’s the overview of the levels:
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 individuals. 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 cookbook we learned 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, 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.
Where to Start
Each of these levels builds on the previous level, so as we grow from one level to the next, the landscapes become more complex. Like everything else in the Habits of Health, however, I encourage you to start small. If you have been practicing Stop. Challenge. Choose., your work on consciousness has already begun, so keep at it.