By ‘going unconscious’ I’m referring to indulging in various forms of denial including refusing to recognize any possible contribution we might have made to our plight. Instead, we take the lower path, choosing avoidance in one form or another. When a challenging situation or a difficult person triggers us, it is very easy for our ‘pain-body’ (Eckhart Tolle/Power of Now) to shove our better, wiser self aside and take over command. With hot, reflexive emotions in control, our higher self is shut down and we all too quickly lose conscious awareness of the better choices available to us.
Our egoic self thrives on stirring up our emotions and anxieties; it feasts on drama and hysterics, fear, anger, envy and jealousy; our shadow self loves to hijack our rational self and head off on a roller coaster ride of manic emotions. Having the self-control to stay cool, calm, composed, centered and collected in times of duress and stress is the supreme form of self-mastery, a skill set that all should aspire to acquire and maintain. How are you doing at it?
Closing Quotes:
“No man is free who is not master of himself.” – Napoleon Hill
“If you do not conquer self, you will be conquered by self.” – Seneca
“The first and best victory is to conquer self; to be conquered by self is, of all things, the most shameful and vile.” – Plato
“I don’t want to be at the mercy of my emotions. I want to use them, to enjoy them, and to dominate them.” – Oscar Wilde
“Nothing gives one person so much advantage as to remain always cool and unruffled under all circumstances.” – Thomas Jefferson
As always, I share what I most want and need to learn. – Nathan S. Collier
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