Whoever has been interested in mindfulness or meditation will have heard the question “Do you have thoughts or are you your thoughts?”

It’s a question that may raise awareness that has not been there before.

As a result, it asks the question of where thoughts come from and if all of them correspond to the person we believe ourselves to be. At the same time, it raises the question of how one may distinguish thoughts from one another. It also raises the question of what we can do with such awareness.

Awareness is a necessary step on a journey to change, but as such, it only opens a door. One, not everybody will want to walk through.

The questions awareness highlighted may then easily disappear in some sensemaking that avoids answering the questions, brushing them aside.

Awareness is not the answer. It’s there to enable seeing the questions.

Moving into and beyond awareness is a choice.

One, one may not always be ready to make.