Are you asleep?
I like Sci-Fi movies. One of these movies is called "Dune". In it the main character says this line, "Father, the sleeper has awakened!" There is a book I love by Eckhart Tolle, the title is "A new earth: Awakening to your life's purpose". This is just one example of the many books and other varied things out in the world talking about "awakening". It seems to be growing in its popularity.
Some may wonder as to what they are referring to with this "awakening". I believe it is this; the awakening is becoming aware of one's thoughts. As we become aware of our thoughts we then gain control of our actions. Now this doesn't happen instantaneously. This is something that happens over time, how much time depends on the person. This is due to how much effort and work they choose to put into becoming more aware. As awareness grows so does the degree of control one has over themselves. The degree of self-control is in direct correlation with the degree of awareness.
Now this awareness does not mean having control over people, circumstances, experiences, etc. It is only control over ourselves as anything else infringes on the agency of another and we simply are not able to dictate what others will do. This awareness helps us to be in a place of control because we begin to see that it doesn't matter about the other things. We begin to understand that it doesn't matter because we can choose what to think, feel, and believe. This means that we can choose joy in any situation. We can choose to be happy around any person. We can choose hope in the face of any obstacle.
It is in this awareness that we find our true power. I have a quote (I forget where I got it from at the moment, it may be from Louise Hay) that says, "The point of power is always in my hands." To this I have added; my choices, my feelings, my thoughts, and my emotions are in my hands. The power, this true power that I refer to is our agency. It is our ability to choose. This is what the awakening brings, the awareness of our ability to choose for ourselves. And we are the ones who choose what to think, feel, and believe.
We always have a choice. When we feel like we do not is the moment we are being overcome by fear and doubt. Being in awareness is walking in faith and love, while being in unfocused thinking (being at the whim of your thoughts) is walking in doubt and fear. It is in this place of doubt and fear that we tend to deal with things such as stress, depression, hopelessness, anger, frustration, resentfulness, and the list of negativity just goes on and on. It is also the path that leads to an unsatisfactory life, where we feel unfulfilled.
I have a quote from a fictional book with characters that are dealing with depression. This is one character that has been on the road to recovery speaking to one who has just begun it. The book is "A Dance to Remember" by Anita Stansfield. "Fear is a belief in something you can't see and faith is a belief in something you can't see. If you have fear, you are giving your power to satan. If you have faith, you're giving your power to God...Who will you trust?" I like to add, who will you give your power to? Because in every choice we are making, we are either walking in faith or in fear. When you make a choice you are placing your power in the hands of one or the other to help do the work for you that you need to accomplish what you have made the choice for in the first place.
So I ask you, are you asleep? And if so, are you ready to be awake and aware? If you are finding that life holds little to no joy or less than you would prefer, if you find less satisfaction in life than you desire, maybe it's time the "sleeper has awakened". "A new earth", "The Dream Giver", "Shed", "Cure for the Common Life", and "The Jackrabbit Factor" are all great books to help you come to awareness. You can find them with their authors, along with other great books like it listed under inspirational reading.