Pay Attention! to your Attention!

Attention is probably the most important gift you posses. It’s the act of taking possession of your mind, in clear and vivid form, of one of several simultaneously possible objects or trains of thought. It allows us to withdraw from some things in order to deal more effectively with others.

The perceptions of our reality is directly linked to where we focus our attention. Only what we pay attention to appears real to us, whereas whatever we ignore, no matter how important it may be, seems to fade into insignificance. The focus of our attention affects us in a multitude of ways. Each of us chooses, by directing our attention to things, our world, universe, our life, as we experience it. However for most of us, the ‘choice’ is unconscious, so it’s not really a choice at all. When we don't pay attention to what we pay attention to, what we are paying attention to will show up in our awareness and sometimes it will shock us into paying closer attention! As in "SURPRISE"!!

By controlling and mastering your attention you will give yourself the choice of what happens in your life. Think about it, countless things happen at the same time all over the world, but as long as your attention is not focused on any of it, then it doesn't really have any effect on you.

The more you control and master your attention the more you attract the things in your life that you really want. If you don’t pay attention to crime, natural disasters, and all the ugliness shown on your TV, it doesn’t create that reality for you. If you don’t pay attention to negative things in life, it will not create that reality. This doesn’t mean we should ignore what’s going on in the world that isn’t peaceful and happy, it just means not to give to much attention to it. Don’t get all fired up about the things going on, decide when enough is enough and move on to something you want your attention to be focused on, the feel good things, the more important dreams and desires of your life. If getting fired up about something that’s important to you motivates you to do something positive about, go for it. Just remember how you focus your attention on it, is it positive or negative.

When Mother Theresa was asked to join the Anti War rally, she replied ‘When you start a Peace rally, I’ll join you”. Bless her, she knew the value of where and how to place her attention!

Do you see how imperative it is to train your attention? Your attention will automatically go somewhere you would rather not have it go and it will snap right to the things that are happening that you don’t want to happen. Then what happens? Your attention isn’t focused enough to have an effect on what you do want to happen or accomplish.

Here’s an example:

My daughter sang in the concert choir at her High School for four years in a row. Her Father never made it to any of her performances, not one. The night of her last performance my attention was so focused on his lack of support for our daughter, my anger and frustration over him not making the effort not only for her but for himself consumed me so that while my attention was focused on him missing out on this wonderful event, I missed the first half of her performance!

There are many different ways to train your self to pay attention to where your attention goes. You, of course will have to take control of how you master your attention.

We have infinite attention, however we can totally exhaust it to the point that if feels as though there isn’t any left. Be aware of how you use it and learn to ‘deliberately’ choose what you pay attention too.

What we look at may not be what we pay attention to. Overt attention versus Covert attention; Overt attention is the action of directing our eyes or ears towards a stimulus source of some kind. Covert attention is the action of mentally focusing on the source of stimulus. In simple terms, this means you can direct your attention towards the outside world or the world within you. You can observe, give attention to, your thoughts!

I’m attempting to write this without using the word NEED. Need is not where I want my attention! LOL However, we need to pay attention to things in our daily life. Everything we do requires our attention. But what absorbs our attention? Businesses use the backdrop of marketing and advertising to get our undivided attention. It’s constant and surrounds us everyday. The more aware of it we become, the more we can choose not to give our attention to what does not serve us.

Give yourself the gift of a new habit (one that serves you!), the habit of attending to your inner life. Enhance your inner self with daily practice to where and how you place your attention. Be aware of what draws your attention away from being happy right here, right now, and gently bring yourself back to the present moment (without judging yourself!).

Deliberate attention, practiced consistently, gives you wonderful insights and assists you in the creation of your dreams and desires.

Pay attention to where your attention goes!

Tina Faith
manifestingco.op@gmail.com