Pathwalking 223
There are a lot of different things on my mind, and it is causing me to lack in focus.
Some are pretty big picture, way out of my personal control matters. Some are very much in the here-and-now. And some are dreams, desires and destinations I want to reach.
Everybody gets caught up in this. We all have personal matters, professional matters, and worldly concerns. As I analyze this, I am beginning to think that we often allow the things that are furthest from our control to be the center of our focus, and wind up not where we actually want to be.
Take elections, for example. Nobody anywhere in the world looking at the American election process happening right now isn’t disturbed. This is just so ugly. There is little to no civility, the discourse is almost anti-intellectual and the mechanics of the whole show are pretty unpleasant. It is a topic that will spur discussion and argument and garners vast amounts of attention.
Beyond the elections there are some other pretty awful things getting attention currently. Restrictive, backwards laws being enacted, open racism, bigotry and outright hatred being spewed and laws being made to support this ugliness. Can’t turn on the news, scroll through any form of social media or even hold a topical discussion without being exposed to these things. Liars, cheaters, scam artists, people who want to control everyone else are always being pointed out to us.
I’m not even going to go into global matters.
Suffice it to say, most of these things are WAY beyond my control. I can’t do anything about them, except to vote in said elections, maybe campaign for people I support, maybe write editorials and letters about the things I am finding disturbing. But apart from that, this is something I cannot control.
Except for how I let it affect me. If I talk about it, explore it, focus on it and give it energy, then let it upset, depress or anger me it becomes my problem. It distracts me from the things which I should focus on, which can help me to change the bits that will most impact me.
One of the challenges I am constantly faced with is striking a balance. How do I balance out my focus so that the things I should be working on and with get more of my attention? How do I take my mind off the things I really can do very little about, and to work on the things I can take control of?
This is a part of why I have been working on daily meditation. Every time I quiet my mind in this manner I reset my thought process. I can still the anxiety, the concern, the depression and hit the reset button. I can make use of meditation to refocus my attention towards more of what I need to improve my situation.
But when I am just doing the things I do daily, and I am not in the process of meditating, how can I better keep my focus on the things I can control?
This is the problem I am having in finding and maintaining my focus. I scroll through social media sites, I hold conversations with friends about the happenings of the world and I get distressed. I start to feel bad, anxious, unhappy. And I know I need to find ways to change that and turn my focus and attention to things I can control.
So how can I work with this?
First – I need to spend less time reading through social media. I don’t need to scroll all throughout my Facebook feed and see all the news posts. I know this. I need to do a better job of acting on this.
Second – I need to stop more frequently and ask myself How am I feeling? If the answer is not good, well, content, or happy I need to ask myself Why am I feeling this way? It won’t take too long, but it will change my focus and I think it will allow me to get a better handle on what I am thinking about because of what I am feeling.
Third – I need to work on my intentional actions. I need to not just do things for the sake of doing, but because I want to do them. I need to look at my options more and make choices that will help me to feel good, to keep my thoughts clear and to get me to the places I want to be in this life.
With all three of these the important thing is the doing. They are here, they have been written – now I need to truly ACT on them and make them happen. Back away from all the time online. Ask the questions about my feelings more regularly and work on keeping my thoughts and feelings in the positive. Explore the available actions to me that will tie them all together and allow me to well and truly choose and walk the Path I most desire.
Nothing to it but to do it. Do or do not, there is not try.
What do you do for your focus?
GOAL LOG – Week 13:
Diet: I’m still tracking my intake, and working to cut back my carbs and sugars.
Exercise: Fencing happened twice, and I got to the gym four times. I again exceeded my goal, and am happy about that.
Writing: Five days of writing and editing.
Meditation: I spent at least 5 minutes meditating six days last week. I did not find or make time for mediation during the weekend.
Gratitude: I wrote out 5 things to be grateful for three days last week. I want to work on doing three to five things daily.
Progress!
This is the two-hundred twenty third entry in my series. These weekly posts are ideas and my personal experiences in walking along the path of life. I share this journey as part of my desire to make a difference in this world along the way.
Thank you for joining me. Feel free to re-blog and share.
The first year of Pathwalking, including some expanded ideas, is available here.
If you enjoy Pathwalking, you may also want to read my Five Easy Steps to Change the World for the Better.
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