The only thing that really troubles us is that our attention doesn't belong to us. Presently, something calls for us and claims our attention. Every errant thought and feeling that passes through our psychic system commands that we attend to what it tells us to.  We are made captive to whatever our negative attention has clung to.

Our work, in terms of reclaiming our right to be in relationship with what we choose, begins with being able to see that we suffer because choices are made for us by this unconscious thought nature.  This is unnecessary suffering. The mind has produced commentary on the moment, and then has an automated response to the messaging that makes us miserable.

Central to our wellbeing is knowing that we are okay - that we are worthy, adequate, and lovable. Feeling that we are okay can come from two different sources:

• Others' attention and approval
• Our own loving adult connected with our spiritual guidance.

Codependency is the term used to describe the addiction to feeling okay through others.
 

There is so much unfolding for so many in the world right now. My invitation is to embrace, with loving presence, what it is you are feeling in your body.

Do you desire to walk, talk, live, and breathe as one who allows life to unfold magnificently, no matter what is happening "out there?" You have the ability to integrate, live, and manifest as the Essence you are so that you consciously receive deep truth from the universe.

As we pay attention to what's happening in the body and ignite circuitry, we discover how to live without being stopped by the hesitations, procrastinations, or self doubt we land in when our thinking mind simply doesn't “know” the answer.

Particularly right now, mass consciousness is powerful. When “the news” tells us how "things are going to be," and we believe what they say; it's what happens. The news precedes reality because our thoughts precede reality. I'm not saying to completely disconnect or ignore the world. However, when you plug in, pay attention to the body, notice where there is a charge, and build circuits.

How about those emotions? Have you been feeling some of those lately? What are you doing with those?

Emotions are the ones that we have to pay attention to the most … cause they’re the sneaky suckers. They’re the ones that get under our skin. They’re the ones that activate these parts of ourselves that we don’t really like / definitely don’t love.

We need to learn how to be able to experience them in a way that honors us: who we are, how we are, where we’ve been and where we are going … so we don’t have to get stuck in the story.

We don’t have to get stuck in the bullshit, but we do need to recognize that when you have unresolved emotions, when you have things that you have not looked at, when you have feelings from the past that have not been felt through / that have not been experienced / that have not been accounted for … that are just sitting in these little pockets throughout your heart and your mind and your spirit and your body … they will get your attention. They will absolutely, without a doubt, they will get your attention. And usually the way our emotions get our attention is one of two ways:

The Magic of 11:11!

As long as I can remember, the number 11:11 seems to show up just when I need a dose of guidance, or as a way to make me pay special attention to what’s going on around me. I’ve considered it as a “butterfly kiss” from Spirit, a message that I’m loved and cared for. It’s so fun to see the creative and playful ways that Spirit can communicate with us, and this has always been one of my favorites throughout my life. 

As I’ve shared many times before, my teen years were fraught with angst, stress, and anxiety (for me and my family!). This period was very difficult for me in large part because I could sense I was different from others, but I had no way of processing the strong emotions, prescient dreams, or intuitive “hits” I would get. Many of those intuitive episodes were preceded by periods where 11:11 would show up everywhere from clocks to the combination on my locker. At the time, I noticed the pattern, but I thought it was simply coincidence, not synchronicity. 

Choose to Go Higher

Our lives are the experience (or the reflection) of whatever presence we may share… and this holds true for all of our moments. We are primarily, first and foremost, creatures of consciousness. What does this mean?  

Our real -- but still hidden -- life is an expression and extension of eternal forces, even though we are presently well grounded in the sensual, physical life. As such, we remain bound in this realm's limited and unconscious circle of relationships. But we need not remain unwilling captives of this lower order. We may choose higher. 

Our as yet realized heritage is that we may choose, through higher self-awareness coupled with conscious discernment, what order of presence we wish to share, what presence we agree to allow within us. Think what this discovery means to us.  

It is our choice whether to dwell within the temporary or the permanent -- whether we run with the stream that pours itself into the desert and disappears, or dwell within the ocean that feeds all such passing pools. We are empowered to choose whether to give ourselves over to what hurts us, or to what heals us. 

Stop Animating What Makes You Ache

If we see how much of our unhappiness is self-created, through being inattentive to our own interior life, then accordingly, we can learn to re-direct our attention, placing it where we will within what is right and bright. But, there is only one way to realize this reversal: we must work to see how wrongly directed attention works against us.

Perhaps a thought pops into your mind about a problem that’s been bothering you. Appearing with it is some emotional disturbance. Now the thought starts rolling, growing in its demand for your attention. Almost instantly it has defined what needs to be done, or what you are powerless to do. And both states accomplish the same dark end: you’ve unknowingly animated that thought and given it a life -- and the life you’ve given it is your own! Here’s an example of how this scene might unfold:

A man is walking through his office when his boss walks by and gives him a blank look. The thought pops into the man’s mind that his boss is criticizing him or doesn’t like him. Now, as he starts to fear this idea -- a negative picture produced by his imagination -- his mind focuses its attention on this disturbing image. And the more he attends to this dark dream, the further into its labyrinth he descends, strengthening its presence and power to further irritate him. A heartbeat later, he has no doubt: the boss has it in for him! This thought grows in authority for him, tormenting him for the rest of the day and causing him to snap at his family when he gets home. And all of this suffering is born of what? The conjunction of a passing glance and a moment of misdirected attention!

Find New Strength in Awakened Attention

Imagine for a moment a man walking through his office when his boss passes by and gives him a blank look. Suddenly the thought pops into the man’s mind that his boss is criticizing him or doesn’t like him.

Now, as he starts to fear this idea, a negative picture is produced by his imagination. His mind focuses its attention on this disturbing image. And the more he attends to this dark dream, the further into its labyrinth he descends, strengthening its presence and power to further frighten him. A heartbeat later, he has no doubt: the boss has it in for him!

This thought grows in authority for him, tormenting him for the rest of the day and causing him to snap at his family when he gets home. And all of this suffering is born of what? The conjunction of a passing glance and a moment of misdirected attention!

Here’s the amazing thing about this illustration, and what we want to learn from it: this whole drama has been played out inside of the man – storyline, stage, cast, and leading characters. But he doesn’t see how this painful state is self-created; instead he believes it has been thrust upon him by someone else – his heartless boss! So, what else can he do – being in the dark as he is to his true condition – but try to rid himself of his stressed feelings?

Why is it important to be aware of the breath?

Try these directions for mindfulness of breathing, a basic concentration practice: When you’re ready to meditate, close your eyes and bring your attention to the motion of your breath as it enters and leaves your nostrils. Keep your focus at the nostrils, noting the full passage of each in-breath and out-breath from beginning to end. Don’t follow the breath into your lungs or out into the air; just watch its flow in and out of the nostrils. If you can, notice the subtle sensations of the breath as it comes and goes. Be aware of each in-breath and out-breath as it passes by the nostrils, just as the doorman watches each person who comes and goes through a door.

..one secret everybody forgets when getting on the manifesting train

My friend the late Dr. Wayne Dyer always said that the power of Intention was the single most important aspect to keep in mind when considering the subject of “reality creation”. What’s that? The ability to create our own reality is wired right into us and is the most natural thing we could do (nobody teaches us this hmmm I wonder why?)

SO, If you’re reading this you are probably already a card-carrying manifesting enthusiast and if you’re new to me you may not be aware but you are seriously doing it all the time!

The other day, I was sitting at lunch with my kids as they started to discuss the Texas shooting and started to wonder why the news had moved on from this story so quickly.

My son said, “Wow, that Texas story was wild. Why aren’t more people talking about that? Isn’t it weird that it just came and went?”

I thought about that. Stories used to stop us all cold in our tracks. Now, they just seem to come and go. Moments that used to bring a collective sense of grief—a collective sense of oneness—now seem to come and go without landing.

The news of the week, as it always does, got me thinking. It got me thinking about politics. Thinking about addiction. Thinking about success. Thinking about how to live one’s life.

Every new year, I usually do some kind of inventory of my own life. But I can’t wait until then. I just can’t. (Plus, my birthday is around the corner, so now is as good a time as any.)

And the truth is, it’s not just the news that has got me re-evaluating. My body has also been speaking to me to pay attention. My heart has been calling me out. My mind is telling me not to get caught up in the noise, but to instead step back and think about the effect that the noise has on my life, and on all of our lives. Plus, it’s all been giving me a complex migraine, complete with vertigo and vestibular damage (don’t ask).