What we focus on expands. This is a spiritual law that is also expressed in the words, ‘by right of consciousness’ and ‘thoughts held in mind produce after their kind’. I prefer the first version because it gets to the heart of the truth.
If you’re planning a summer garden, you already know that you can’t plant basil and harvest tomatoes. Our thinking is the same. We can’t hold constant, fearful thoughts and expect to enjoy a love-filled life.
In other words, what we look for we will find. There’s even a scientific word for this, reticular activation. You’ve probably experienced it yourself.
You decide to buy a new car and you’re leaning towards a VW bug. In the coming days, you notice a lot of bugs on the road. Wow, you think! I didn’t realize they were so popular; I see them everywhere. Or another common example is when a woman becomes pregnant. Suddenly there are pregnant women everywhere. Well, that’s not actually true. There aren’t more pregnant women, you’re just seeing them more because they are on your mind. Thus, what we focus on expands, is made more visible, is more obvious.
This principle is one of the easiest to see and work with.
In my early teens, Mother transferred us to the Unity Church. Rev. Donald Curtis was the minister, and he was a force! He had been an actor and looked a lot like Vincent Price, even playing similar roles back in the day. Because of his acting prowess, you can imagine that he could deliver a sermon to really get your attention. In addition to his sermons, he wrote several books, including one that has stuck with me over the years. “Your Thoughts Can Change Your Life”. He was teaching this same principle.
Some years ago, I became aware of my focus and verbalization on ‘being busy’. If asked what’s going on, my response was usually, “I’m busy”. It was what I felt; it was what I spoke, and guess what, it was what I experienced.
Now you might want to debate which came first. Was I busy because I told myself I was busy, or did I tell myself I was busy because I was busy. Which came first isn’t the key issue here. The point is that we are in control of what we focus on.
In my years of busyness, I didn’t stop to think about the message that I was further embedding into my consciousness. I just spoke what I thought was my truth. But then I remembered this law and I began to focus on other ‘truths’ of my experience. I began to affirm, “I live life with joy and ease”. I took this intention into a Transformation Game a few years ago and over this time it has had a huge impact on my well-being. I came to deeply, viscerally understand that I could create a new reality by changing my thoughts, just like Dr. Curtis preached decades ago.
Focusing on this affirmation, “I live life with joy and ease” is how I am overcoming the drive of busyness.
Let’s say you don’t want to stay in that energy of busyness. It’s become a burden and is dragging down your energy. By shifting your focus away from busyness, you allow different energies to expand. But how do you shift your focus? Step-by-step.
- Start small – pick one belief or idea that you want to change.
- If you want less of that thing, create 1-2 short phrases that affirm its oppositive. For example, pretend you have a belief that you’re too old to start a new hobby or pick up an old one. To begin eliminating that belief, affirm “I always have plenty of energy, courage, or faith to do whatever I want”
- If you want more of something, use the same process, but state a new belief that is bigger than what you already have. For example, imagine that you have a fulfilling job, but you feel you could have a bigger impact. You might state, “my impact grows as people who need my solution are drawn to me.”
- Rinse, and repeat!
- Then daily, monitor your thoughts. What are you focused on? Don’t worry about the fleeting thoughts – they don’t create consequences like thoughts that you hold. You might jot some of them down some place handy so you can review them later.
I hope you’ll enjoy some type of inspiration every day. Look for the good. It surrounds you, if only you’ll see it. I post on Facebook and Twitter – follow me for inspiration and daily angel card posts.
This article was originally published in FYI 50+ magazine https://www.fyi50plus.com/what-we-focus-on-expands/
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