The world our five senses engages with can be misleading. It will usually try to pull us in as many directions as it possibly can if we haven’t cultivated a relationship with our inner world. We can absolutely get stuck in the world our 5 senses would have us prioritised. 

What I have realized this week while I focused on my work schedule and daily duties, is that it was starting to pull me away from my inner world, largely because my attention was so focused on the outside world, without maintaining my attention on my inner world at the same time (when we do this in our daily life, it becomes a sort of meditative state that we move from). As a result, I started feeling frazzled and very unlike myself. 

Where we place our attention is where energy flows. You don’t have to take my word for it. Try it: Put all your focus on your left hand. Notice your fingers. Notice all the lines on your skin, notice all the tiny hairs. Place all your attention there for 5 whole minutes. Soon you’ll start to feel the flow of blood in your hand and fingertips. You’ll start to feel an aliveness there in your left hand and soon all that exists is your left hand.

It is the same thing with thinking. If we place our focus on a certain way of thinking and hold it there, soon we will experience that way of thinking. For example, we can do this by thinking about a pleasant thought (having a great day) if we keep placing our thinking in this place, our emotions tend to follow. Then watch what happens to our bodies. We start to notice ease happening in our body, the more we focus on having a great day. We may even smile. 

If we keep coming back to this thought of having a great day, we may even find that what would normally annoy us doesn’t have the same effect. This is because all our energy is focused on having a great day. It is impossible for us to have a contradictory experience. This is the nature of our attention. The more you do this, the more you start to notice just how much power you have over your own life experience regardless of the situations or circumstances you are in. Your attention is a powerful tool to get you directing your energies to where you would like them to go. 

‘’You have power over your mind – not outside events. Realize this, and you will find strength.” (Marcus Aurelius)