"Self-Actualization" is the process of making our self "actual." Our "real self" is our inner being, and it is only when we have integrated our inner truth into our external personality that we can - actually - express who we are and what we believe in so consistently that it becomes our "visible truth." The growth process through which this integration of inner truth with outer expression takes place is called "self-actualization," and - like every other learning cycle in God's universe - it is governed by Universal Law.

For too many individuals, the emphasis during "self-growth" is on accumulating knowledge of all kinds. W study philosophy and religion, alternative health and spiritual healing - but we never really grow, and we never really change. We are wiser than we used to be, in the sense that we know more about certain things than we used to know, but we aren't any more aware of who we are than we were before. Our learning process has been purely academic in nature; our inner self struggles with our outer mind in an attempt to make us see the basic truth which is the heart of the self-actualization process: knowing what is right and what is wrong on an inner level doesn't have much practical value in our lives.

Wisdom is useless until we reach the point in our lives where we can apply that we know - on a very practical level - to our everyday lifestyle. It isn't the knowing of truth that transforms us from a state of unawareness to one of enlightenment; it's the doing of truth - that we express our personal truth in everyday situations and everyday relationships - that effects positive change in our selves and in the lives we lead.

You may know on an inner level that it is inappropriate to think in selfish terms and always look out for your own best. interests first, buy your inner emotions may drive you to be blinded to the needs of others.

You may know on a conscious level that it is against your basic truth to judge another person, but your inner emotions may cause you to look at that person and make a judgment because of the effect you are allowing another person to have on your life.

You may understand in the philosophical sense that all of God's creatures were created equal, but that doesn't stop you - on an emotional level - from feeling that your species is the most important species and act in a way that reflects your lack of respect for what you consider to be "lower life forms."

The discrepancy between what you say you believe and what you do isn't due to a lack of information; the information is available on a world-wide basis for anyone who chooses to seek it out, evaluate it, and accept it - or reject it - as their own. The discrepancy lies in an inability to integrate Universal Law into your lifestyle. Awareness of the self doesn't just focus into the positive aspects of your personality, or the positive skills and talents that you brought with you into this lifetime.

Self-awareness focuses into the negative aspects of yourself as well: it is only when the positive is weighed against the negative - and the balance perspective arrived at is used as a guidepost in integrating higher consciousness into the self - that the influence that we call "self-awareness" becomes apparent in your relationships and in your lifestyle and - through expressing your inner self through the outer you - you begin to live your ordinary life in an extraordinary way.