Are You Paying Attention?

                              'What you put your attention on grows stronger in your life'
                                                             The Passion Test

We have been talking about what our lives would look like if they were on fire.  I've been using the book The Passion Test to focus on how to determine what our passions are, and how our life might be different if we followed those passions. We were to create five note cards, each listing our five passions in their order of importance and then, down on the bottom of each note card, we were to write: ‘This or something better’.  Then we spread these note cards around our home, car and office so we can frequently be reminded of our focus, and what our ‘intention’ is for our lives.

Here is a simple formula created by Bill Levacy for creating the life you choose to live.  
                   Intention ----- Attention ----- No Tension 

Using Mr. Levacy's formula we can see that we have the ‘what’...the 'intention' (that's our five passion statements).  So now it’s time to think about the ‘how’: the ‘attention’.  Now honestly this is the part that makes me want to get out my 5 passion statements and begin writing goals for how I want to achieve each one…but the authors of our book say 'no'….they say goals are about outcomes…passions are about process.  And this is supposed to be all about ‘process’.

Do you remember the book The Secret?  How the mystery was unwrapped throughout its pages to show the reader what happy, successful people have learned about living a passionate life? The 'secret' unveiled, goes by another name; it is called 'The Law of Attraction':  You draw into life what you give attention to.  If you put your attention on what brings you joy, happiness, and fulfillment, you get more joy, happiness, and fulfillment.  When you put your attention on what’s wrong with things in the world, you see more things in your world to be dissatisfied with. 

Neuroscientists, Dr. Andrew Newberg and Mark Waldman, describe the process like this. "The more you give attention to a particular belief, the stronger those neural connections in your brain become.  When you focus on the positive aspects of your life, those neural pathways become strong, and that becomes increasingly true for you."  Chris and Janet Attwood say it like this:  "If your attention is on all the things you don't have, all the problems in your life, all the bad things that are happening to you, then you are creating more of that. If you want more problems, more challenges, more unhappiness, then give attention to those things." 

By the way...this law of attraction thing is working in our lives whether we want it to or not or whether we believe it or not!

So let's all say this out loud together: "What I put my attention on, grows stronger in my life".

If we truly want to change our lives; we have to put our attention on the things that we want to see manifested in our lives.   We begin the process by purposefully making decisions that are aligned with our passions. So when a decision comes up in our lives we need to ask ourselves if this will lead me closer to my passions, or will it lead me further away.  And if it will lead me further away then I need to learn to say 'No, thanks, but I appreciate that you asked me.'  

I'm going to put this next sentence of the Attwoods to memory...how about you? “Whenever faced with a choice, a decision, or an opportunity, choose in favor of your passions…."  
 

They also want us to remember these two principles: aligning our life with our passions is a process, so we need to keep moving towards those passions.  And secondly, when we begin choosing in favor of our passions, our life will begin to transform in ways we can't predict.  So be open ...remember God may have something better in mind.

….How about we try the 'law of attraction' for ourselves. Let’s purposefully put attention on our intentions, and make decisions in favor of our passions, and then let's see what we have drawn to us. 

Here's Rich Cavaness' perspective of the 'Law of Attraction' in the Bible:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zBdAo5otRRM

Email me at: smallsteps4bigresults@yahoo.com