Attention Defines Your Reality

Let’s explore the idea that there are no negative events, and everything that happens to us is life-affirming and good, and that it’s our attention that defines our reality.

I find it infinitely interesting whenever I’m pulled into focusing on the negative. Like focusing on that one negative remark. Why does the negative have such a strong belly-aching pull?

I guess we were trained so since childhood, and it might be inherently human. Tens of thousands of years ago, when we encountered a tiger on a hunting mission we were certain to never go there again. It seems this has been left behind, outdated. We need a software update, then.

Personally, I find it important to mind where I focus my attention. Attention is energy, when you think about it enough, and where our attention goes, there goes our energy. If we focus on the negative events in our lives, then we’re putting more energy into them. The negative grows, and we get sucked into a vicious cycle.

From this we can suppose that in order to break free from the negative spiral is to focus on the positive aspects of our lives. That doesn’t mean we ignore what is perceived as negative — we look at it, and understand it for what it is; a perception. We also understand that it is us, ourselves, that give any event the plus or minus sign. Events are neutral in-and-of themselves. It is our perception that makes it either negative or positive for our experience.

Oh, boy, such a thought pattern is something we tend to resist, isn’t it? The idea that there are no negative events, and the whole positive-thinking movement. But this isn’t some dogmatic belief. It’s a practical reality, at least for myself.

How come the same event is for some people positive, and for others negative? Where is the truth in this? It’s in the eye of the beholder, as one might say. It’s in US. It’s not out there, is it?

For the most part, we resist events that happen in our lives. We’ve had other expectations, other plans, and they didn’t come to be just as we wanted them.

And when we resist, we suffer. I believe we’re too limited to be able to fully understand events that happen to us. Or rather, events that occur, not to us, but merely occur. We’re in pain because we personalise an event. Why me? Why is this happening to me? Why did I have to break that toenail…

We can’t define any event, or happening, as positive or negative, for it is only later that we connect the dots, looking back. And even then, we’re hard-pressed to understand it, since we don’t know the whole scope of it, and — probably fortunately — won’t ever be able to understand.

“You can’t connect the dots looking forward; you can only connect them looking backwards. So you have to trust that the dots will somehow connect in your future,” said one Steve Jobs.

So, it is our attention that gives power to either side. We ought to understand the negative not condemn and resist it. Learn from it and focus our energy — that is, our attention — towards the positive. It will grow. And progressively you attune yourself to the light/positive aspects, and in every-single-thing or event, we will see that it is life-affirming, and there to help us grow.

In the end it is understanding and awareness of the principle that attention equals energy, and that whatever we focus our attention to, grows. You need not believe a word I say; in fact, it is better you don’t. Test it out. We come to the truth by systematically doubting every single belief we have. Well, as close as we can to the truth, that is. Go out there and play around with this. Try it for a week, and you’ll see for yourself. No dogma necessary. I’m merely sharing my personal experience. Cheers!

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