The Art of Living Consciously by Branden - Assignment Example

Question What does it mean to live consciously? Do you agree with Brandens assessment? How easy or difficult is it to live consciously within the Western culture? What are the unique challenges and rewards of living consciously? Introduction The Art of Living Consciously is a book written in 1997 by Nathaniel Branden. The book builds on self esteem psychology; as Braden explains that self esteem involves the psychology needs of human beings; if this need is not met pathology (difficulty in human relations, defensiveness, depression and anxiety) results. Braden also builds on the six pillars involving self esteem; the first pillar is living consciously which means knowing what one is doing as he or she does it. The second pillar is self acceptance which means acknowledging truths in relation to one’s behaviors, thoughts and emotions. The third pillar is self responsibility which involves identification of one’s actions as the causes of one’s desires. The fourth pillar is self assertiveness which involves expressing one’s interests and needs appropriately. The fifth pillar is living purposely through making goals and identifying ways of achieving them. The sixth pillar is personal integrity, which is ensuring alignment in one’s behaviors. Self esteem involves seeing oneself as capable of solving basic life challenges. Meaning of Living Consciously Conscious living means being aware of current situations in life and thereafter making the most appropriate heartfelt choices for every situation. Appreciating and loving oneself is the beginning of a harmonious environment necessary for conscious living. Many people go through life and make choices without thinking, and react through subconscious conditioning; this pattern is due to cultural and parental conditioning given to us in formative years, and not our choosing ability. Hence, many people act unconsciously on life experiences and, therefore, make the same choices again and again due to the beliefs and understanding of other people and society at large. Many people want to realize their purpose in life and be happy; but through living from previous conditioning these aims are forever elusive. Unconscious living involves people depending on other people or society for their happiness; searching for love in wrong people or places is the greatest barrier to our desired life. For example, divorce or job dismissal leads us to finding another wife or job so as to have self security and self worth; the desires that drive us is the need for feeling safe and valuable. A reasonable return to conscious living entails changing awareness on our intentions, thoughts and emotions; so that we can effectively choose how to act. For example, we can choose not to be angry, but instead communicate in an effective manner so that available problem is solved. Choosing self behavior effectively creates love and trust which leads to authentic power in someone’s life. The love we desire can be got right now and right here; this is achievable through simple change in consciousness of oneself, not others. Braden’s Assessment of Living Consciously According to Braden, in his book the Art of Living Consciously (1997); living consciously involves being mentally active and not mentally passive, the ability of seeing the world using fresh eyes, and life intelligence being joyful. It involves being aware of issues that affect our goals, values, purposes, interests and actions. Living consciously also entails the ability of identifying both pleasant and unpleasant facts; and the ability of identifying our mistakes and then solving them. Concerning interests and concerns, living consciously involves increasing our understanding or awareness on the world within self and external to self. Living consciously identifies real and unreal concepts, and acknowledges that dismissing reality leads to evil ways and actions. In order to remain adaptive in life we must embrace continuous learning; many people do not know that their thinking system has many contradictions. One way in which people experience contradictions in life is when their self view in not in line with their actions or behavior. This particular contradiction has three remedies; the people can alter their behavior accordingly, change their self concept, and they can decide to evade or ignore the contradiction. We usually undermine the level of our self esteem when we experience high levels of contradictions; this is because deep inside we understand our actions. In embracing reality as we best know it increases our chances of success. Therefore, I agree with Braden’s views because living consciously entails developing relationship between or behavior and our desired goals and values. Living Consciously within the Western Culture It is not easy to live consciously in the western culture, and this is because many people live on autopilot by repeating their actions continuously and doing what they always do. It is a difficult task to change routines and lifestyles, and it takes a lot of willful efforts to change life choices. In the western culture many people live unconsciously due to various reasons: many people do jobs which they don’t want, college students usually choose professions based on, not their career interests, but expected financial rewards of the chosen professions; many people perform duties that are entrusted to them by their superiors, but not what they like doing, this is especially at the work place where mangers allocate projects to employees without considering their interests; many people also live in debt because they fail in preparing and / or adhering to income budgets; and also many people spend less time with members of their families and friends due to the busy work schedules in the western cultures, this leads to unconscious living. Challenges of Living Consciously The major challenge with conscious living is identifying the mind; which involves ones thoughts, beliefs and self image. These factors; beliefs, thoughts and self image, defines the life of a person. The mind connects the spirit and the physical life reality; and it helps us to focus on intended goals. Focusing our attention on only specific goals creates clarity and sense of direction. Rewards of Living Consciously Conscious living is important in various aspects. It ensures personal development as it properly guides, in the right direction, the life of a person. Personal development includes improving one’s perspective and role in life. Living consciously also ensures meditation which ensures that the mind is relaxed for further reasoning later. Another importance is that conscious living creates room for self reflection, which is a way of removing barriers that limit your capabilities. Conscious living also enables us to live majorly in our present life, and properly participate in what we do currently. Hence, our actions and behaviors are mostly directed towards the actions and people that we love and value. Finally conscious living enables us to review on our relationships and life targets; this enables a person to appreciate loved ones more, and taking actions on what we want to achieve in life. Conclusion Living consciously entails having control of one’s life, making decisions on our life actions after careful thought, and living a life that we desire. One aspect of living consciously involves putting more action in thins that work, and understanding what does not work and ceasing performing it. Self esteem should be based on rationality, consciousness and integrity (but not on believing that you are right); self esteem also recognizes that correcting or accepting a mistake or error, creates and opportunity for us to take pride on the solutions made. References Branden, Nathaniel (1997). The Art of Living Consciously, San Francisco: Jossey Bass. Branden, Nathaniel (1995). The Six Pillars of Self-Esteem, Bantam, p. 27. Heller, Anne C. (2009) Ayn Rand and the World She Made. New York: Doubleday. Riggenbach, Jeff (July 22, 2011). Is There a Psychology of Liberty? Mises Daily (Ludwig von Mises Institute). Read More