The Formidable Power of Awareness

Udumbara Udumbara
Jan 28, 2025 - 11:09 Updated: Jan 27, 2025 - 19:53
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The Formidable Power of Awareness

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Many years ago, while navigating a busy airport with my husband and two young children, I noticed a toddler wandering through the crowd alone. The child, who was no more than two, was waddling through the packed concourse towards a sliding glass door that opened onto a busy street.

Without a word, I gave my daughter’s hand to my husband, made eye contact, and quickly dashed after the toddler before he walked out the sliding door.

I reached the child, gently stopped him, and turned him around while scanning the busy concourse. I saw a woman looking around wildly and began leading the boy towards her.

I approached his frantic mother, made eye contact, handed her the child’s hand, and returned to my husband and children. I looked at my husband, took back my daughter’s hand, and we continued on to our destination.

The entire scene lasted less than 30 seconds, and no words had been spoken.
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The Many Faces of Awareness

It wasn’t until many years later, when writing about situational awareness, that I remembered the event, which had been buried in the recesses of my memory.

Awareness comes in many forms and has incalculable benefits to every aspect of our lives. Conversely, a lack of awareness can leave us passive before external circumstances and unrecognized shortcomings. Idle and ineffective, our power to direct the course of our lives is left unrealized.

Lack of awareness is like being pulled along a river with the current. Awareness is knowing you’re in the river, how the currents are moving, and where to swim to get out.

Awareness allows us to live intentionally, know ourselves better, and see the beauty and joy surrounding us. It helps us sense danger and protect ourselves and those around us.
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Self-Awareness

Self-awareness is awareness turned inward. It allows us to recognize and manage our emotions, improve our relationships, make better decisions, cultivate personal growth, and live in alignment with our beliefs.
Epoch Times contributor Leo Babauta says we have the power to change how we see ourselves—to become who we want to be—and let go of beliefs about ourselves that no longer serve us. These acts of self-awareness encourage us to explore and acknowledge all aspects of ourselves and choose which ones we want to cultivate.
According to Epoch Times contributor Mike Donghia, our daily challenges, progress, prospects, and setbacks can be opportunities for personal growth, depending on how we process and reflect on them. Awareness can be the key to those pursuits being productive and positive.
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Situational Awareness

The airport example above highlights situational awareness, a type of external awareness defined as being consciously aware of your surroundings.

Situational awareness is crucial for people with dangerous jobs, like those in the military and law enforcement. However, it is also a valuable skill for regular people.

Being situationally aware can help us avoid dangerous people and situations and has many other real-world applications.

Examples include:
  • Noticing signs of wear and tear in your home so you can make needed repairs.
  • Being aware of a coming snowstorm and making the necessary preparations.
  • Observing someone who looks ill or tired on the bus and offering your seat and assistance.
  • Seeing children playing up ahead as you drive through a neighborhood and slowing down in case one of them runs into the road.
In addition to sensing danger, an awareness of our external surroundings means that we notice things that lift our spirits and bring us joy—like seeing an elderly couple holding hands, catching a smile from a stranger, appreciating a field of wildflowers in bloom, or looking up at a night sky filled with stars.

How often do you truly notice the world around you—or within you—and what might change if you did?

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