Human Thoughts, Nigerian Youth and Why Self-awareness Issues
By Arita Oluoma Alih,
A ebook titled “The Prayer of the Frog” authored by Anthony de Mello explores human nature. An excerpt from the literature states, “Human beings react, to not actuality, however to concepts of their heads.” The author illustrates this idea with a metaphorical story a couple of pestilence touring quickly to a specific metropolis.
The pestilence met somebody on the best way who requested why he was rushing. He replied, “I’m going to kill 1,000 lives.” On his means residence, he met the identical individual, who stated, “You killed 50,000 lives, not 1,000.” He replied, “I killed 1,000 lives; the remaining died of worry.”
This phenomenon expounds how the human thoughts works. The extra 49,000 died solely as a result of worry and the considered being killed, demonstrating the highly effective influence of notion on actuality. The human thoughts might be each potent and dangerous, as individuals’s ideas and fears can form their experiences and outcomes.
So simple as the phrases ‘self-awareness’ could sound, it holds significance. Identical to individuals will say some assertion don’t maintain water, these ones maintain lots. Many of us do not likely perceive what it means to be self-aware.
Self-awareness shields you from manipulation in right now’s complicated world. It retains you alive and acutely aware, helps preserve non secular steadiness, offers you a way of id, and allows you to replicate in your persona, permitting you to face agency within the face of adversity.
Whereas I used to be reflecting on my persona, together with my goal and fears about not attaining sure issues earlier than reaching a sure age and the way it could have an effect on my psychological well being, self-awareness of those issues led me plan countermeasures if I don’t obtain them as envisioned.
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Earlier than continuing, self-awareness must be understood: what’s the self, what’s consciousness, and what does the compound time period self-awareness entail? The self refers to an individual’s entirety, encompassing their sense of id, being, character traits, and individuality, what distinguishes them from others. Consciousness, alternatively, is a person’s capability for reasoning and data about issues, together with find out how to navigate doubtlessly distressing conditions; it’s primarily consciousness of thoughts. Self-awareness, due to this fact, is the event of a acutely aware thoughts that observes, perceives ideas, and displays by itself persona.
I’m an advocate of self-awareness owing to the truth that it assist form lives. It permits one stand agency on their goodwill. It helps in self-discovery and finally prevents being manipulated into doing one thing in opposition to one’s conscienceness and goal.
Though an necessary life-tool, many youth don’t perceive self-awareness and the importance of being self-aware. In a society that immorality is turning into a norm, do youths know the way to not enable themselves to be satisfied that such acts and different social vices are usually not a norm in a society that craves progress?
To thrive, these questions we should reply as youth in a Nigeria with over 200 million individuals, the place the nationwide grid is at all times collapsing, the place ASUU is at all times on strike over wages, the place farmers-herders-clash is endless, and the place politicians are at all times toilling lots’ intelligence.
In all these, self-awareness comes into play by means of self-interrogation. For instance, will I enable myself for use as a thug for politicians due to some primary requirements? Your solutions and actions replicate your stage of consciousness. When ASUU is on strike, you ask your self, “What do I do with my time?” and so forth.
The ability of remark, a part of self-awareness, is commonly underrated. Take note of your environment and the individuals you work together with. Discover their stage of self-awareness, openness to studying, and mindset. Encompass your self with positivity, as these missing these traits typically unfold negativity which isn’t good for both progress or growth.
This additionally takes us again to a narrative from Anthony de Mello’s “The Prayer of the Frog” the place Viennese surgeon taught his college students {that a} surgeon wants two presents: freedom from nausea and the facility of remark. He demonstrated this by dipping one finger right into a foul-smelling fluid and licking one other, testing his college students’ remark abilities. Whereas they handed the primary take a look at by displaying no nausea, they failed the second by not noticing the surgeon’s trick. This underscores the veracity of remark.
Thus, navigating the murky waters of life, particularly for Nigeria’s youthful inhabitants, requires one to coach their minds and be self-aware as a result of self-awareness begets self-consciousness and self-observation!
Arita Oluoma Alih writes from Abuja and might be reached on: [email protected]
