Awareness and Mind-Set

If you are reading this then you have awareness, but have you noticed it? Awareness seems to be working for us when we are awake and asleep-(several meanings of asleep), and unless it is pointed out to them, people may not notice it (like the air around them) or appreciate
it. Since I have mentioned your awareness, please start to notice it [pause].
If you think you are reading words on your computer screen, then think again, , can you be aware enough to capture that you are just seeing shades of light and color, nothing else? Could it be that your mind-(or use whatever term for councious processes that you like) will fashon this sense input into "computer screen" and also interpret the light and dark areas into "letters" and "words" and "sentences" and then use other "Idea Structures of the semi-english language" you have to give meaning (your meaning not mine) to the light and dark areas. What if you see -
"saera krad dna thgil eht ot"
- any meaning? Can you read that right-to-left instead of left-to-right? So how's your awareness of awareness going?
I've spent a little time trying to ferret out what might be true sense input and what is my own habitual translation of sensations according to my world of ideas. I began to be aware that a very LARGE amoumt of my view from senses, for desision making, is based on old ideas and mostly habit, and seemingly not much based on primary basic sense input with a newer-fresh evaluation (as in be-here-now). But at least I feel that I'm pulling at the oars of my boat of awareness, instead of of being adrift and asleep at the wheel.

It may help everyone to try and be more aware. . . Many seem not to be noticing much that is going on around them and may not even notice some that is happening inside of themselves.
Some times being more aware can help you in your relations to others, in your health and personal fulfillment, and in your desicions for business or finance. You can become more aware of your surroundings by using your 5 senses, sight, hearing, touch, smell and taste. I would like to share a way that I have used to stretch my senses to be more aware.
To start, maybe you can go outside? I would ask you to check your shoulders and face for tight muscles, and relax them, then go through your body and find and relax anything that is un-relaxed. Now I would like you to listen to the sounds that you can hear, really listen as if you wanted to hear something important that's far way. Try to hear ALL of the sounds that are coming to you (birds, breeze, people, insects, fans, cars). Why didn't you notice these sounds before? Do you have "Filters" that stop some sounds from being noticed, try and notice the filter you have for the sound of your own foot steps. Listen again and try to here all sounds together, not one sound at a time, push out and get smaller sounds.
Next let's see what we are feeling on our skin. . can you feel the sleeve of you shirt on your shoulder and arm. can you feel your shirt on your back, on your stomach? Can you feel your shoes on your feet? Your pants where it touches your legs? Can you feel your tounge touching your teeth? Were there internal filters for your clothing touching you? Now try and feel
all of your clothes on your skin at the same time, front, back, legs, arms, feet.
Ok Lets try our sight next, pick something farther away to look at, like a tree (or your TV if inside). Try to consentrate your vision on the tree for small details, now go the other way and notice what you see to your right or left when you look stright at it? Your periferal vision. See if you can expand awareness to all of your periferal vision area, above, below, right, left of what is the center of your vision. Now see if you can "See" the colors and shades of light and dark, as basic, without recognizing "things" from mind analysis. Can you get light patterns instead
of trees and sky (not easy to do at first). Some visual artists can get a shadow and contrast viewpoint, if they can release their mind-set for seeing the "tree" and then start seeing the light reflected from the "tree".
You can try your nose (smell) next. Try and really notice any smell, all smells, does the air have a smell? Not a smell in the air, but the smell of the air. Can you smell your own breath?
You can also do your taste, can you taste your own mouth and saliva? Get an apple or grape and eat it and really taste it. When you eat lunch, do you accually taste your food or is your mind somewhere else.
Perhaps after doing some of these a few times, you can make sure you're relaxed and alert then try and do them all at once, try to hear every sound in your ears, see every sight in your eyes, feel every  touch to your skin, smell every sent in your nose all at once. This is more of an effort to turn OFF your many internal sensory filters, than an effort to hear and see and feel, you do that automatically and then lose much of this input without any awareness that you are blocking and filtering. You might try and open up your sense awareness, and you can also try and find some of the uncouncious "Filters" that you normally make to block awareness of sights, sounds, taste and touch. It may be OK to have these filters, but not so OK to be unaware of them.
Try to go with your own inner direction for what this stuff may mean to you and how you can use it or if you practice it.