consciousness
Self-consciousness defined... excessively conscious of oneself
as an object of observation by others.
Self-consciousness is a very dangerous and negative emotion. The
victim of self-consciousnesses says to himself:
· "What impression am I making?" · "Do I look well?" · "What are
they thinking and saying about me?" · "I am not equal to this,"
· "I lack so many things," · "If I had only been born right," ·
"I shall surely fail."
Now this defense mechanism isn't necessarily a stumbling block.
It is a safeguard against rashness and over-confidence. The evil
of extreme self-consciousness is that it makes you do so many
things that you do not wish to do. It can change you line of
conduct a hundred times a day, makes you say "yes" when you
would rather say "no," and, in short, robs you of you power and
individuality.
What is the remedy for this dreaded extreme elf-consciousness?
It is mainly a matter of securing control of your thoughts and
intelligently directing them. The mind is a machine, which must
be made obedient to the owner's will. When brought under
subjection, it will serve your highest and best purposes, but
left to itself it - may run easily to confusion and destruction.
Here you may interject, "But my mind wanders." Then go after it
and bring it back. You say you can not? Who is operating your
mind? Does it run itself?
What would you think of a train that had no engineer, no
conductor, no one to direct it, and was allowed to run anywhere?
Yet this is what you permit with your train of ideas. Be
sensible. Take hold of yourself seriously. Set your will to
work. Straighten your spine. Take time today for mental
overhauling. You are about to educate your will - and it is
serious business.
Procrastination will not do. From this time forward resolve to
control and direct your mental powers for definite purposes.
Constantly hold in your mind a high estimate of yourself, but be
sure you have reasons for doing so. It is of little use to say
you are well if you are ill. Do not deceive yourself. You are no
greater than the sum of your thoughts and habits. You must have
good and sufficient reasons for your self confidence.
· Are your impulses of a noble nature? · Is your ambition lofty?
· Do you high ideals and do you work persistently to realize
them? · Are you doing the best you can? · Do you have an
uncompromising love for truth?
The mind is a prolific field for the growth of all kinds of
thought. If false and negative ideas are allowed to take root in
the field of your mind, they will spread like weeds with
wonderful rapidity, and may easily discourage and overwhelm you.
If you have long neglected this "mental field" you may now find
yourself in a bad way.
The remedy for you, and for others so situated, is to patiently
root out every obnoxious habit and to substitute strong,
healthy, positive thoughts in their place. You must at first be
content with small victories, since you have permitted this
mental field and garden to be overrun with these objectionable
thought habits. But you can comfort yourself with the assurance
that in this way you can and will attain success.
Timid people concern themselves too much about what others will
think and say. They are constantly studying the impression they
are making upon people who probably are not even thinking of
them. Their super sensitiveness causes them to imagine
themselves being criticized, slighted, and unfairly condemned by
those who are probably too absorbed in their own affairs to
notice.
You may be on the road to success when a single act of timidity
may derail your chances. People lose confidence in you if you
lack faith in yourself. Courage is admired, fear never is.
Courage is dignified, fear is repulsive. The person of courage
is welcomed everywhere, while fear invites itself to a seat in
the rear.
Everyone should learn to stand firmly upon their own feet.
"Intellectual intrepidity," says Samuel Smiles "is one of the
vital conditions of independence and self-reliance in character.
A person must have the courage to be himself, and not the shadow
or the echo of another. He must exercise his own powers, think
his own thoughts, and speak his own sentiments. He must
elaborate his own opinions, and form his own convictions. It has
been said that he who dare not form an opinion must be a coward;
he who will not, must be an idler; he who can not, must be a
fool."
Super sensitiveness is a major fault by which you lose
initiative, self-reliance, and independence. A self-conscious
person must, sooner or later, rid themselves of this fault if
they are to be preeminently successful by directing their
attention to the power of self confidence.
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Article Source: ArticlesBase.com - The Cure for Self-Consciousness
