My previous post discussed the ego, awareness, presence, and conscious choices. Let's tie all this together on how this applies to our lives, how we begin removing negativity from our lives and becoming more aware, accepting reality, and seeing with more clarity. What can we do when we are faced with circumstances that we do not find favorable? We have one of three choices to make. One, we can choose to accept them (acceptance); two, we can choose to remove ourselves from them; or three, we can choose to transform the situation. Any other option that is not one of these three will result in some form of negative emotion and, after about three minutes, becomes self-induced, which is hard to admit to ourselves and can be difficult to recognize. This is because an emotion only lasts about 90 seconds, and the reason we feel emotions longer is because we attach ourselves to them. 

Not choosing one of these three options creates a conflict between reality and what we wish reality to be. An absence of one of these three choices correlates with a lower level of awareness and a higher level of subconscious and unconscious (ego) behavior, leaving us fighting for a false reality our ego wishes to have that simply isn't' occurring or will occur. 

Cognitive dissonance is created within the mind when two or more conflicting thoughts occur simultaneously. This lack of agreement (resistance) is with reality and can occur at any moment. A common example of this is when the life (as we know it) of a loved one ends, and we fight with reality for our want for them to still be with us physically.

Practice this with anything in your life. Be consciously aware, and you will always choose the button of growth and processing. Clarity will begin to emerge, and profound realizations will be unveiled. Fighting the current of life is a fool's errand.