Change Your Focus

I just noticed that the last date I wrote a blog entry was January 20, 2009. It was a most significant day; a very moving day; a day of new inspiration; one of celebration. Since that time my focus and that of others has been diverted by the very real economic challenges that we are all facing in our personal lives, our places of employment, our communities, our state capitals, our nation, and the world. I have been moving through all of the challenges as fearlessly as I can, not allowing too much of what is going on around me to deplete my personal energy, divert me from tasks at hand. I need to be able deal with things that are happening as directly and positively as possible.


You see, I have been through very difficult times before and so have you. I know that it is not what happens to us, but how we negotiate the challenges that are most important. Years ago, I went through what I now call my "short-term insanity marriage." It was my "soap opera period", a time of upheaval and personal crises. It was a time of my life for which I am deeply grateful. I learned so much about myself and it was the defining catalyst for my spiritual grow and awakening. Since then I have learned to navigate life with a realistic optimism and to watch for the new possibilities that are always around us if we can focus and pay attention.


In that difficult period in the early '90s, here is something I did to start to refocus my energy and attention and it changed my life. I started noticing the positive things happening around me and to me. I noticed that the moment I gained the courage and strength to release negative people back to the Universe and to take responsibility for the ramifications of the choices I had made. I began to "awaken" and to notice all the positive in my life. I started to write down on a small desk calendar all of the lovely and unexpected things that began to happen during the day; like a reassuring phone call, or a gift of a single red rose from a friend who just wanted to say she loved me. All of a sudden my conciousness shifted from the negative to the positive, and while I had many business and financial issues to deal with, I kept noticing more and more of the positive around me and this made dealing with those at lot easier. I started keeping a gratitude journal and was amazed that every night as I wrote, the list kept growing longer. I also realized that every night as I fell asleep that I was focusing on all the postive that had happened during the day and my sleep state became more peaceful and my dreams more insightful.


I now realize that this is what I need to start doing again. This is what we all need to do - to shift our attention away from all the noise and distraction to the things that are going well in our lives. I can't say it too often. In difficult times it is even more important for all of us to count our blessings.


So please help me make a list of things for which we are all grateful by responding to this blog entry. And please end your own day by making your own list of only the good things. They are there all around us. I am grateful for:

• the gift of our lives,
• the sacred breath that animate us
• the people we love
• our health
• the roof over our heads
• the food that sustains us
• our collegues
• the sunshine
• the moonlight
• gorgous sunset or moonrise
• birds at the feeder
• a kind word received
• An opportunity to say something kind and supportive to someone else
• 
  

P.S. By all means, learn what you need to know. Read newspapers, view the news on line or on TV, but only focus on what you really need to know. Don't allow it to consume you. Don't watch the news before you go to sleep!!! Instead write in your gratitude journal!