Where are you going? What path are you following? I don’t mean right at this moment, and I do mean right at this moment! You or rather your life is in motion. Based on the choices we make we are moving toward something. We can either look forward, be preoccupied by the rear or try to monitor the happenings alongside, and yet we are still in motion.

We generally think of a vacation, a career path or an errand we need to complete as a journey with a beginning and an end. However, our lives are likewise formatted with a beginning and an ending. We can make side trips along the way in life. We can take detours. We can get lost, run into bad road and find ourselves in the wrong neighborhood! We can discover our traveling companions to be amiable or totally unpleasant.

Unlike a well planned vacation, where we look forward to the destination anticipating peace, fun, food, beauty and rest. On our life’s journey we frequently focus on what we want to get away from. Those experiences seemingly in pursuit of our happiness like: the job with little pay, the noisy neighbors, the relationship that is not working, the horrible boss, the poor working conditions, the long commute, the controlling spouse, the unruly children, the inept coworkers and on and on and on.

We spend a tremendous amount of time, energy and focus on what we do not want in our lives. That time, energy and focus would be better served on what it is we desire to bring into our lives.

A person who eats ice cream to excess and has decided they will change that particular eating habit in favor of something healthier can focus on not eating ice cream. They may affirm, “I won’t eat ice cream, I won’t eat ice cream, I will not eat ice cream!” What do you suppose they are likely to think about doing?  Yes, eating ice cream. The main object of their thoughts is now ice cream, perhaps more than before when they were eating it at will. The way our subconscious minds operate that strategy is like a set up to eat more ice cream. That food focused on becomes the object of focus.

In order to redirect the subconscious mind the person would be more successful by thinking about the food, or activity they want to put in place of the excessive ice cream eating. Let’s say fruit. They might do well to affirm, “I will eat more fruit, I will eat more fruit, I will eat more fruit!” Now the focus will more likely shift toward the fruit. Could the focus be more specifically directed, indicating when and what fruit and how much would be eaten? Yes. Can that person still decide they will eat ice cream or whatever else to excess? Can those messages be overridden? Yes, and yes, because we have freewill we can even choose to make poor choices. That is part of what makes it such a victory when we make appropriate choices! Because it is possible to make poor choices our freewill is affirmed. Without the possibility of an undesirable outcome those desired would have no meaning!

Think about that for a moment.

If we were forced to love everyone what would be the joy in loving someone or being loved? If we totally loved everything about ourselves, if all of our attributes were strengths, with no challenges, why would we get out of bed? If our journey were completely free of challenges or adversity what would life be about?

So since we do get to choose, what if we choose to move forward into what is better rather than run away from what lay behind? What if we were to deliberately focus on those choices we can make to improve our lives and those of others around us, instead of complaining about what stinks in our lives? What would happen if we would elect to bask in the happy moments and quickly move beyond those that are not so? What would it look like to focus on the good in life, and plan to include more of that as we move along on the journey?

We have all had our beginning and we will all have an end, on this particular leg of the journey. Are you running away from, with your focus on those things, which pull you down or are you traveling toward those experiences that will create joy? Is your path one of fear, hate, rage and unforgiveness of past hurts? Are you focused on the rear view and stumbling through the now? Are you looking ahead to the future with lessons learned packed in your luggage in anticipation of more love, more joy, more peace and more rest before you?

Where is your focus? How are you traveling? It’s your choice!

Take Inventory and Take Action!

Love,

Deborah

“Lighting the path to loving your neighbor as yourself.”