I've been scrolling a bit too much lately.
Staying on social media for longer than feels goods.
Does that happen to you too at times?
Our attention is attracted by many things.
Every day and all day.
To work, to that message that just came in, this morning's conversation, the shoppinglist, that miscommunication with your colleague, the news, the laundry,
what you're cooking, sports, your partner's tone of voice,
your child's emotion, yourself (shoudn't you be first?)
and so on.
In addition, social media fights for our attention with
tweets, reels, updates, chats, snaps, tiktoks.
And they do so for a reason.
"Attention is the new gold" I read somewhere the other day.
I don't have a source anymore but there is truth in it.
Everything around us is fighting for our attention.
So choosing where to put your attention is actually quite important.
Also the way in which you give your attention to something is meaningful.
It determines the quality of your life.
In a way it colours your life.
If you are not feeling your best one day, or if you had a bad night, you might notice that you let your yourself be filled more easily by what (unconsciously) attracts your attention.
But is that what you want?
Just some questions about your attention:
What deserves your attention?
How important are your days?
How do you want to spend them?
Your hours, your minutes?
What do you allow yourself to be filled with?
What is worth your attention?
Which activities energise you?
In which places do you rest and recharge?
Which people make you feel good?
📷 Bo Rutten
Those are question worth dwelling on.
Just for today, try observing where your attention goes.
What do you notice?
And when things go wrong, where do you focus your attention?
On what else might go wrong? Or on how this could have happened? How you allowed this to happen (even a judgement?) Do you distract yourself by scrolling on socials (yep, guilty 😅)? Or are you trying to be okay with it? With what happened and what you're feeling.
And are you directing your attention towards opportunities and solutions?
You can't control life and what happens to you.
Some things succeed and some things will fail.
That's just the way life is.
However, where you put your attention largely determines how you see and experience things. Also how you see yourself and experience your potential.
It determines what you can become.
That's quite something,
don't you think?
From a mindfulness perspective, we see attention as a muscle, one we can train.
So that in every moment, you can more easily choose what you pay attention to.
It increases your awareness and that conscious choice to direct your attention puts you in charge of your life. In this sense, your attention is worth much more than gold.
I say it is the most valuable thing we have.
It determines the quality of our lives.
It is our greatest asset.
Sincere attention is the greatest gift you can give yourself.
And the greatest gift you can give another.
Let's put it in very consciously.
💛
📷 I was playing around with focus, with attention, while I was in the woods.
Which of these two pictres grabs your attention the most?
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