Where is Your Attention?

“Our Intention and Attention shape our experiences. Where your attention goes, you go.” Gary Zukav Seat of the Soul

As a mother of five children, over the years of the kids growing up, there always seemed to be at least one child feeling like they were experiencing a crisis in the moment. Whether it truly was a mountain as they were perceiving it. Or just a mole hill. Their perception would affect their behavior and that would trickle down to the rest of our family.

In trying to keep our family unit happy and healthy as possible my approach was this…

The size of the problem is not the issue. My philosophy has always been to honor what people are feeling, no matter the age of the individual. Our thoughts, feelings and emotions influence our behaviors and therefore have a reason and purpose. So even though if the problem seemed small and insignificant to me, I never said, “Oh that’s no big deal.” Or “Just get over it and move on.”

However, while acknowledging their problem and their feelings, I didn’t want to have my attention cause them to stay in that negative moment. I wanted to help them shift their attention to seeing the solution. Whether it was a splinter in someone’s finger, a break up with a boyfriend or girlfriend, or class that seemed impossible to pass, I would constantly tell my children,” there is a solution to every problem”. As they got older, they would finish my sentence and respond with, we know mom, there is a solution to every problem. Yes, I would respond. Now let’s see how we can work together to try and solve the problem.

I never wanted my children to grow up thinking they were not in control of their own destiny. And that life was so consuming that they had to give way to their own loss of power when challenges arose. I wanted them to see themselves of victors and not victims. In doing this, it requires a shift in our perspective of where we place our attention.

One of my favorite TED Talks is by Jeff Sandefer in 2011. He is talking about the school he created called the Acton Academy, in Austin Texas. The Acton academy is one of the fastest growing school systems, started by some of the nation’s leading business men. Jeff Sandefer and his wife were not happy with the current choices and state of affairs of education for their 3 children. They actively searched, trying to find the right way of educating their children and at the end of the day, they had found no solution.

Instead of giving up their power and saying, I guess we are going to have to settle for what’s out there, they came up with a Solution to develop the Acton Academy.

One of my favorite things he does in this TED talk, is he challenges everyone to become a disruptor of education. He was asking for people who were happy with the current state of affairs of education for their children to have a shift in their attention. And be part of the solution. I found this challenge so motivating and it definitely created a change in my attention.

When we look back in history, some of the greatest disruptors have created the greatest change. The best example is our Fore Fathers!

One year when I spoke at the Autism One conference, I challenged parents to become a disruptor of education for their children and about 5 people got really offended and stood up and walked out.

I am not trying to offend anyone. Many times, people think of a disrupter as a negative thing. I am not asking you to go riot and protest in the streets. I am asking you to take your power back. I am asking you to be part of the solution. And do this effectively, you have to start by looking at where you focus your attention.

If you are focused on all the negative in your life, then it is going to be very hard to be part of the solution for positive change in your life. This will affect those around you. Such as the life of your family and even the world.

It's also going to be very hard for you to have a paradigm shift in your intention which is imperative in moving forward in a positive way in all areas of life.

Right now stop and take a moment and ask yourself, where is my attention? “Where your focus goes, energy flows.”

There is a solution to every problem and it starts with us being responsible. We have to know that our actions just don’t affect us. For every action there is a reaction. Setting positive intentions causes our attention to shift to solutions verse fear.

The saying, Attitude is everything! It truly is!

Our intentions focus our attention

Our attention creates action

Our action creates results and change.

With our intention and attention focused on positive solutions can create an Army of change!!!

Thank you for joining me on this journey! Let’s Begin!!!