How do you know you have a body, arms, eyes, mouth etc? Because your awareness makes it known to you. Otherwise you wouldn't even realize you have them.
What separates us from a machine that repeats the same processes all the time? Awareness. The mere realization that we are contained in the limited form of a human body that is deemed to perform the same functions for as long as it is viable.
You keep thinking about stuff. But what are thoughts? They are just brain processes that are dynamically initiated based on your memories, experiences and lessons learned. Thoughts draw information from a large repository to then perform analysis, make conclusions and dictate your reactions and behavior. They are also affected by emotions.
Emotions are formed partly from your sensatory organs, ears, nose, taste, vision, touch. These organs transfer the stimuli to your brain, and it, by decoding them, tagging them, analyzing them, and combining them with your experiences, knowledge repository, creates conclusions, scenarios, thought patterns, which eventually create this chain of non-realistic scenarios and imaginary situations.
Thoughts that might not even be real. Because they tell you something about the future, or about a hypothetical situation which is not yet formed. You get stressed. Stressed about something that only exists in your head. You exist in the present. In no other moment. The past is gone, and the future hasn't come yet. Only the present is here. And you need to be aware of the present.
If you take a moment and ask yourself: "Am I aware right now?", then you will instantly be drawn to your awareness. The chatter in your head is only produced by your mind. It's not even real. The only reality is your awareness of everything. Are you aware that you have thoughts in your head? Then you are one step ahead. The moment you realize that, nothing else matters. You are calm. You are rising above everything and allowing yourself to be part of a bigger picture.
I'm not saying you should ignore everything and be oblivious. Yes we need to be aware of our thoughts because they can help us tackle the everyday practical issues of our existence.
However, the moment those practical issues are over, then we need to disengage from our thoughts and go back into the awareness mode. How to do that? By asking yourself: "Am I aware?". Realize the awareness, and keep it on for as long as you can.
Our brain only does 3 things. Measure, compare and describe. Notice that! You keep thinking: "She had 3 drinks tonight". Measuring/counting. "Her hair is better than mine". Comparison. Or "Look at the way she walks". Describing.
Our brain is designed to do these 3 functions all the time. It's a survival mode. We adapt according to what we perceive. Just like any other living entity. But what separates us from this repeating state is the moment we realize that these are just repetitive actions and we are bigger than that.
So be thankful for everything in your life, from material things to more spiritual things. Show your gratitude without expecting anything in return. Show your love to people, animals and objects. Try to exist outside of your human container. Embrace the material world you live in, and try to connect to the invincible energy that surrounds us.
Your awareness of the world, can be amplified and connect with the awareness of all the space that is around you.