Let Your Attention Guide You

With over 60,000 thoughts running through your mind each day, it is easy to max out your attention.

Besides this post, what else has your attention?

Take a moment. What else is tugging at your consciousness?

It’s okay. Only you know how fast your mind can travel from a work project, to someone you love, then on to a regret, back to the work project/someone your love, on to a hope, leaping to the meaning of last night’s dream and back again, yes?

And yet, what about those precious moments when time seems to stand still? I know you’ve been there. You feel intimately connected to the moment before you and simultaneously a part of the entire universe.  What if engaging wholly in life isn’t reserved just for special occasions anymore. What if this is the new normal?

Are you open to the idea that the condition of your life reflects the quality of your attention?

As with any other part of your life, your attention is created by that dynamic exchange between spirit, your consciousness and the environment. The more you open your heart to navigate spirit/consciousness/environment through your attention, the easier it is for you to move through life with grace, creativity, and courage.  In other words, your attention is your heart’s antenna.

I have found Rick Jarow’s perspective on attention invaluable as I navigate, explore and hone the quality of my attention. Rick suggests that there are four qualities of attention.

There are:
1. things that flirt with your attention, usually in the periphery of your consciousness.
2. things that attract your attention.  You notice these and decide to pursue or let it go.
3. things that demand your attention. You aren’t able to brush these things aside. You act on them.
4. things irrevocably command your attention like earthquakes, major illnesses, and falling in love.    These events fundamentally change your life.

For now, let yourself notice where you feel the inescapable tug of your soul. What part of your life wants your attention? Ask yourself,

What is been the quality of attention I have given to this purpose?

Remember, the quality of your attention is that dynamic place where your soul, conscious mind and the universe intersect. Instead of just engaging your conscious mind, open up your attention span by invoking the universal power of your soul.  Here are a few ways that you can enhance the quality of your attention the purpose you explored above or any part of your life.

• Ask your godsource for guidance and commit to noticing more and more ways you can follow your heart’s guidance.
• Give your conscious mind a rest each day through meditation, yoga, or simply being still and quiet.
• Engage your friends in the four kinds of attention above.  As you talk about life, ask each other, “What is attracting your attention today?”  This allows you to begin to view your world from this perspective.
• One way that I have nurtured my attention is by bringing the qualities of dreaming into my everyday life. I outline these qualities in “Maybe Life is a Dream”.  Take a look. I believe you will find value in these ideas as well.

AND, just for fun, try THIS AWARENESS TEST

How did you do?