Awareness

Image by Mario Doblemann on Unsplash

To start the new year, this month I’ll be writing about 5 elements of the spiritual journey: Trust, Self Love, Presence, Awareness and Frequency.  Please know this is hardly a complete list, the journey is multifaceted and always unfolding; these are just some of my thoughts to accompany you.


You’ve probably heard the phrase “when the student is ready, the teacher appears.”  While this adage feels a bit heavy handed to me, it fundamentally speaks to awareness, an aspect of exploring your spirituality.

Yes, “the teacher” is often a person. It can be a literal teacher, i.e., someone you engage with to increase your understanding of a particular topic.  But the person can just as easily be a co-worker, a boss, a client, a friend or a neighbor, or even a stranger that briefly impacts you in a meaningful way. And “teaching” can happen in an unexpected and indirect way.

Sometimes the teacher isn’t a literal person.  It can also be a gathering, a purchase, a vacation, a job, a pet, a walk, an assignment, a house repair, a book or movie, or a profound insight — basically one of the numerous scenarios you experience throughout your day.

The gist of the phrase is that the object, the person, and/or the situation will come into your awareness when you are ready for it.  Sometimes the experience will be joyful or thoughtful; other times it will be complete crap. Whether positive or negative in first appearances, the “teacher’s” arrival signals an opportunity to expand your own wisdom/understanding in alignment with your soul’s plan for this lifetime.

Consider that Divine Intelligence and your Soul are behind the How and the Why of the teacher; you have some influence over the When. If you aren’t ready to go to the next level, the situation won’t come into your life. It’s not a matter of judgement; it’s a matter of resonance.

Consider there’s another layer to awareness — being open to, and aware of, the signals when they come in.

This means stepping back to see if there’s a higher perspective on a situation.  It means listening to inner guidance and nudges. It means letting something play out a little longer before reacting.  It means sitting with uncomfortable feelings long enough to also receive the wisdom—even if it takes weeks. It means picking up on new clues in your surroundings, clues that have actually been there all along but were as of yet unseen.

The clues are there; it’s our job to see them.  Awareness depends on awareness.