Why Raise Your Consciousness, and Why Now?

Eckhart Tolle once said that, this world has the potential to be a heaven on earth. I agree with him completely.

I don't see any reason why it couldn't be.

So what is preventing us from making this, heaven on earth, a reality? My opinion is that it's our lack of consciousness.

What do I mean by consciousness?

The best way to explain what consciousness is, would be to give out examples of what it isn't. Consciousness isn't, constantly yelling at your kids. It isn't stealing from others. It isn't war.

All of these acts are, most often, acts of unconsciousness. But the good news is that we can change, and I'm already seeing many people shifting in their consciousness around me.

The Many Benefits of Becoming Conscious

For me, learning to become conscious has lead to many changes in my life, and they have happened in a very short period of time.

I've broken myself free from consumerist chains. In other words, I've learned to live with less stuff. I used to think that accumulating nice things would finally make me fulfilled. Now I won't go shopping, unless I truly have a need for something.

I've also dramatically changed my eating habits. I began noticing that I had tendencies of being an emotional eater. I'm now able to notice when my hand is going for the cookie jar.

I might still eat the cookie but now I can control the amount that I eat.

My alcohol consumption has also dropped, without me even making an effort to do so.

All of these changes have improved the quality of my life.

I'm not saying that you need to change in the direction that I have. This is just my individual path. For you, becoming more conscious will most likely be something totally different.

And that is perfectly fine.

External Positive Changes

As I said earlier, everyone's' path is their own but I have noticed many similarities in the people who do get on this path.

Becoming conscious often leads to finding what your passion is. Or if you already know what it is, it might give you the clarity you need to finally begin pursuing it.

Along with finding your passion, consciousness often increases the importance that you place on living in the present moment.

No more is the present moment treated as an obstacle for some, totally imaginary, future moment that will fulfill you. A moment when you are finally successful, rich, or popular.

Rather, the present moment is recognized as the only thing that truly matters, and it is rated higher than any future moment.

And when you combine these two realizations of finding your passion, and respecting the present moment, you will almost automatically begin pursuing your passion - right now.

It will be recognized as the most important thing for you, and from that awareness postponing anything that you feel called towards will no longer fly.

Negative Patterns Revealed

Becoming conscious will also reveal your negative patterns that, for you, used to feel normal.

For me one of the negative patterns was, not respecting my body's energy needs enough by not getting enough sleep at night. Negative self talk, is another good example of a negative pattern that I finally became aware of.

When you're not conscious these patterns go unnoticed.

Luckily they become illuminated automatically when you shine consciousness onto them.

Saving the World

Along with personal gains, becoming conscious will help better the situation of the whole world. There are some messed up things happening around the world, and they are all done in a state of unconsciousness.

None of these acts could be done from a state of true consciousness.

I believe that a massive shift in people becoming conscious is what we need if we want to keep living on this planet together.

We have collectively been leading ourselves into destruction, by polluting nature, and even killing each other. We now need all the people on deck that we can possibly gather.

It's obvious that the current system of running this world isn't perfect and needs change. But when people start awakening, the external problems will begin taking care of themselves.

Inner shifts will lay the foundation for the formation of healthier systems in the external world.

Time of Change

I suspect that the following decade will be a time of great transformation.

I've heard many authors and influencers talk about this. Including people from spiritual, scientific, and economic fields.

It seems that major shifts will be happening from many different directions.

It's our job to stay conscious during this time of great change. We can use it as an opportunity to lead our civilization into a whole new, and better, direction.

Who knows, we might even witness something close to a heaven on earth during our lifetimes.

Start With Your Front Porch

There is a saying - "If we all cleaned our front porches the whole world would be clean."

It is not your job to go forcing your 'porch cleaning' services onto others around you, especially if you haven't cleaned your own front porch to begin with.

Tend to yourself first. I assure you, there will be plenty to work there.

So how can you begin your own awakening process?

I began meditating, and I can't see a reason why I would ever go back to not meditating again.

It was my first Personal Acts of Consciousness. I challenge you to find your own, and put it into action.

It is quite likely that your Personal Act of Consciousness won't go well with the status quo, and people might look at you funny. Even though meditation isn't anything that radical anymore, I still got people telling me that what I was doing was weird.

It's your job to be strong enough to not let others opinions affect your pursuit of happiness.

What do you feel called towards but haven't had the courage to start doing?

-Do you want to try out being a vegetarian?

-Do you want to quit your job and go on a new path?

Whatever direction you feel like going, just get started. It's more important to be happy with yourself than to get acceptance from others.

Juha is the author behind Ever Evolve, a blog on Simple and Effective Self Development. If you enjoyed this post you might also be interested in a guide to Living in the Moment.