The Awakening

What does it mean to awaken or expand your consciousness? It means that you are ready to step out of what has been passed down as true, or what you thought you believed as true, to uncover the truth for yourself. The only thing you start to trust is yourself, to think for yourself, to learn for yourself. You want to know if there is more to this exsistence than just life and death. Is there an answer to this question and did most people just stopped looking for it? Better yet