Becoming conscious means not operating automatically, its about really seeing what is happening and choosing your best possible emotional, mental, spiritual or behavioural response in each moment.

Living or lives unconsciously means we don’t know we’re doing it and this is something we are doing all the time.

Becoming conscious is to realise this is what you do; not dealing with what you are feeling or how you are behaving by becoming unconscious and being asleep to yourself.

To become conscious; identify your favourite ways of going unconscious, be vigilant in noticing them and be committed to facing yourself. Once you take this responsibility you can begin to take control and make your life the way you want it to be.

This means developing your self witness to what is happening and noticing what you are doing, feeling, or thinking, as you do it and without judgement. Once you can do this you can then begin to wake up to the other possibilities in your life.

Before every journey, first sit for a while. Russian proverb.

I notice that when I travel anywhere that I need to sit and let myself arrive for a few minutes as I can still be on my journey.

I’m catching myself up, taking a breather and this I think is what I mean here, that before a journey, during and after it’s useful to catch our breath.

To take a moment, collect ourselves and then if necessary; move on again.

Such is conscious change; if we take that moment to think before continued action, then we can begin to make better choices.

Neil Benbow

©neilbenbow2026