It was reported that Sayyidina Umar ibn al-Khattab asked Sayyidina Ubayy bin Ka’b about taqwa.
Sayyidina Ubayy asked, “Have you ever walked on a path full of thorns?”Sayyidina Umar replied, “Yes.”
“What did you do then?”
“I rolled up my sleeves and treaded carefully.”
“That is taqwa.”
As we can see, taqwa is about having a good level of consciousness and self-control, constantly being aware of the dangers and avoiding them, as opposed to living life without reflection nor care of consequences.