Uncovering for Change
We have already learned that mindful awareness or decentering metacognition is the foundation of any meaningful changes. Transformative change becomes possible, once we can identify and unravel the patterns of harmful mental habits (conditioned responses) and extinguish associated autopilot behaviors that are hindering our progress toward self-actualization or eudaimonia, and to this end, mindful awareness serves as our investigative searchlight. As mentioned before, we cannot change, correct, or extinguish what we are subtly ignoring or simply unaware of, and the cultivation of insightful awareness drives the process of unlearning what has not worked and learning new ways of being. Trying to learn new ways to care for oneself without uncovering and unlearning the patterns of ongoing habitual mis-takes is utterly ineffectual, and uncovering requires the awareness of decentering metacognition with genuine self-compassion. This is why mindfulness-based treatment takes the bottom-up approach, whereas conventional psychotherapy tends to take top-down approaches.
Paving a path to wellness and self-actualization is certainly not a straight line and each individual must orient and re-orient on their journey; however, the following seven steps may serve as a generic roadmap toward self-transformation. Starting Step 4 below, the left column refers to mental processes and the right column refers to behaviors.
True wisdom comes from a simple realization that our well-being depends on how we conduct our daily lives. How far our wisdom has matured can be seen in the foresight with which we can prevent ourselves from doing things we like to do but are likely harmful, and the discernment with which we can talk ourselves into doing things we don’t like to do but are conducive to our health. The pursuit of happiness is worthwhile only if it is grounded in the practice of cultivating these types of awareness.
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