Are you ready to pay attention? On second thought, who really wants to do that? Paying attention sounds like work, doesn’t it? And we all already have plenty of work to do… How about instead we figure out how to make your attention pay you? That sounds pretty good right? The payoff being much more joy, fulfillment, and abundance in all areas of your life. All you need to do is learn the process and let it do its thing while you focus on feeling good.
As most of us already know from experience, when we have idle time on our hands, we often spend some (or much) of that time worrying about things. Worry can be the greatest thief of our joy and peace in life. There is a better way to live, by learning to focus our attention on what is wanted.
Think for a moment about when you’ve had time on your hands to think (in the shower, driving a car, in bed before falling asleep) and you found much of that time being spent worrying about the regrets of the past, stresses of the present, and fears of the future. Our inherent human nature is to be worrisome, and our culture reinforces that tendency in a big way. Hence why so many people do everything they can throughout the day to stay plugged in to a distraction (TV, phone calls, facebook, reading, work, texting, blogging, going out, etc…). Even serving others or do-gooding can be a form of distraction from our own selves. It turns out that most of us have already learned how to focus our attention at an expert level, but mainly on the unwanted.
There is an old saying by Lao Tzu which goes:
“Watch your thoughts, for they become words.
Watch your words, for they become actions.
Watch your actions, for they become habits.
Watch your habits, for they become character.
Watch your character, for it becomes your destiny.”
In our modern day, meditations and affirmations have become very popular, and those practices are designed to change / suspend our thought patterns for a variety of reasons; mainly to improve and control our well-being on a subconscious level.
In the Christian scriptures, the apostle Paul says: “whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, if there is any virtue and if there is anything praiseworthy—meditate on these things” (i.e., think about, reflect on, and be grateful for).
The Apostle Paul may not have known it, but he was being a master practitioner of the law of attention and teaching how to focus our attention when he wrote that verse. Because it is exactly what we should do to live a happy life.
Everything in life is filtered by our thoughts. Therefore, if we want a joyful life; if we want an inspired life; if we want a meaningful life; if we want a life that is a blessing and inspiration to others; and if we want to have a life that can handle most of the challenges that come our way; we can benefit so much by taking the time to learn how to discipline our attention to work for us instead of against us.
So we should do this as often as possible. Actually do what Paul said to do. Consciously and deliberately focus our attention on those things we are appreciative for; particularly on those aspects which are wanted. It’s a proven neurological fact that our life (actions, habits, thoughts, character, and destiny) will change for the better if we exercise our attention regularly, and take control of any patters of fear or pessimism by curtailing them by focusing our attention on hope and optimism in every subject!
Much love,
Eric
— Also Learn How to Avoid Self Sabotage for an Amazing Life
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