What You Focus On Is What You See …On my weekly radio segment ‘Love and Bugs’, on ABC Darwin’s Evening with Dinushi Dias, we spoke about life being busy and the power of pausing, changing our focus and the importance of being ‘kind’ to ourselves.
Below are a few more thoughts.
In the classic “Invisible Gorilla” experiment video, created by Harvard University in 1999, six people in black and white shirts pass basketballs back and forth. A voice asks the viewer to count how many times the people in white shirts pass the basketball.
Simple, right?
Half of those who watch the video miss something very, very obvious—a gorilla. Yes, someone in a gorilla suit actually walks through the basketball passers, very clearly faces the camera and thumps his chest, and then walks offscreen.
Half of the viewers are so busy counting the passes between the white-shirted people that they never even notice it. When the video asks, “Did you see the gorilla?” we think, Wait, what gorilla?!
What we focus on will change what we observe around us.
We will notice more and more of what we focus on or, conversely, less and less of what we don’t want to see.
As we focus on the things that annoy or anger us, well, you guessed it, we often completely miss some good and wonderful stuff that could change how we feel. We miss the gorilla!
What we empower will devour us!
So often, when we are worried about all the negative things that looms large in our eyes, we think about them, ponder over them, speculate on what could happen and express frustration about
them. Sadly, focussing on the negative prevents us seeing the other amazing things going on around us.
What if…
What if we pause … and switch our focus?
What if we focus on “whatever is lovely”?
What if we focus the good and true things we like and appreciate? We’ll find ourselves noticing these things more often.
As we do, our negative concerns won’t steal all of our attention and energy.
What will happen to your feelings?
You’ll feel better!
As you look for the next thing to praise and the next thing to be grateful for and then the next, you’ll find that you don’t really even notice what annoyed you so much previously.
Instead, you’ll start noticing everything you can be grateful for.
It’s a shift in focus that will change your perspective and it delivers a big impact.
TRY THIS:
• Notice and keep track of how many times you focus on the negative things around you for the next seven days. • Note, how this affects your attitude and thought life? • For the following seven days, switch this around and look for the ‘good and lovely things’: those moments of seeing the sunsets, the birds, the smiles on the face of children, the laughter of friends and family, those things that bring you joy.
• Note how this affects your attitude and thought life, your whole disposition.
• Now make a choice of which one you would prefer. “Our happiness or unhappiness depends on upon the habit of mind we cultivate.” Norman Vincent Peale
Our futures are determined by our daily decisions, so every decision matters.
Each choice matters.
Each choice you make will take you closer or further away from living unmasked.
“The things that become habitual are the things that will shape our lives.” (Unmask Stop Hiding Start Living Page 27 – Wendy Burns)
