The Conscious Human Being

There are a few key things that make humans different from animals, one of the biggest differences is the human consciousness. As animals survive on basic instincts as do humans, but humans are able to reason with one another and think logically. (I'm not saying that animals do not use logic or reason, it just has not been proven). The conscious self- as Dan Millman describes in his book Journey of the Peaceful Warrior- serves as the center of logic, reason, and discrimination which of course are all necessary tools to survive in this life.

The most obvious role of the conscious self is the ability to adapt to new situations by learning new skills. Conscious learning helps us to thrive in our environment, skills like reading, math and cultural differences. Your basic self also looks to your conscious self for guidance and reassurance just like a child will go to it's parents. Because the basic self is so primal it is natural for the conscious self to be the serious counterpart.

By helping the basic self understand the fundamentals of life while still allowing the it to be expressive and creative our energy's are working together and we are in balance. When our energy's are out of balance, it is likely the conscious self using logic and reason to devalue natural feelings and intuitions from the basic self, similar to the way adults sometimes devalue the feelings of children. When your conscious self takes control it is impossible to feel our intuitions and gut feelings.

In order to heal from this control struggle and become balanced again we can help our conscious self learn to listen and reestablish rapport with our basic self. This will cause a renewed sense of vitality in your everyday life, a wonderful sense of pleasure from the little things, and better overall health.

Although we do need to value our conscious selves and their use of reason, logic, and the other functions, we must also recognize its limitations. When we can see our conscious self in perspective, we will then be able to recognize that our life work better when our basic self and conscious self are cooperating under the loving yet watchful eyes of the higher self.