The first step to gaining awareness of how we are showing up and creating our reality is to question why emotional responses are triggered by certain situations we face.
As you ponder that, you can reflect on whether it serves you to have those emotions involved in any given situation… the answer is usually no.
For example, if someone cuts you off and that instigates a state of anger as a response…
Does it serve you to get angry?
Will getting angry change, improve or fix the situation?
Who does the anger affect?
How does that affect the interactions you have after?
When you can notice your responses to situations and the patterns they create, you can begin to improve the way we relate and associate with yourself and the world around you. Improving your mental awareness also will assist you in discovering ways to manage and/or decrease your stress, as you gain control of your responses and the situations you allow to affect you.
“You cannot control the results, only your actions” – Allan Lokos
Growth results from embarking on the journey towards removing, adapting, adopting, or changing the conditions that you notice that are no longer serving you and stepping out of the habitual actions and responses you have created as habits.
By becoming aware of the repetitive patterns, responses, and mental scenarios that you default to, you can begin to purposefully refocus them into productive and positive thought patterns and actions.
“Mindfulness is a way of befriending ourselves and our experience”- Jon Kabat-Zinn
Take time to breathe when you are triggered. When you notice an undesired emotional shift, come back to your breath, and come back to thoughts that elevate your vibration.
It is important to be clear on what you want out of life and what are working towards in life, so that you have a main anchor for your thoughts to come back to when you find yourself going down an unwanted mental path. Those anchors can be affirmations, manifestations or visualizations that will assist in focusing your mind on manifesting your highest and most mindful self.