By Tiffany Lane Crane
Have you ever watched a commercial for a snazzy new car, say a new black Volkswagen Beetle, (which they use to call Volkswagen Bugs back in the day), then suddenly you see them on every corner? What if you’re considering cutting your hair or changing your hair color. Do you suddenly see the styles and colors that you’ve been wanting in several magazines or on TV shows? So a couple of questions, is it that this car suddenly appeared all over the road only after you saw the commercial? Did everyone run to salon the day that you started thinking about your new hair cut? The obvious answers to these questions are no, so what is happening here? There’s a simple principle at practice whether we are aware of it or not. Black Beetles and cute hair styles seem to show up, but they were always there you’ve just now taken the time to notice them. Whatever we focus on expands. This principle can so be used to our advantage, or it can take away from us when we’re not in tuned with what we’re focused on.
So often in life we are really busy, or are really struggling, or are really busy struggling. Or oftentimes we are just simply not happy with our lives. While struggle cant be avoided we can get into a rut of assuming that the only thing available to us is struggle or difficulty. This doesn’t happen to be the truth but it can feel like it is. The principle of ‘what we focus on expands’ is present here just as it was with the black Beetle or the new hair style. When we are consumed with thoughts of what we don’t have, or what we feel is wrong with our lives then we tend to get a lot more of that energy back. When we are going through a hard time the worst thing we can do is focus on the hard time we’re having. If we choose to focus elsewhere something miraculous happens, the struggle or the discomfort seems to not stick around as long. In the cases we need to change something around us, we suddenly have the will do so
What we focus on expands is also true in our relationships. When we focus on what we don’t like in another person, what we wish could be different, then we can create a monster of a person that doesn’t exist in reality, only in our minds. That’s not to say that there are not abusive and crazy people out there, but there is something fundamentally wrong with treating your spouse like they’ve committed murder if they’ve only in fact left the toilet seat up a few times. Do you notice that when your angry at someone it’s almost impossible to see any good in them? Why is that? It’s simply about your focus. Your best friend, the one who held your hand when you were sick, the one that helped you through your divorce, the one that stayed up with you late nights as a shoulder to cry on, can suddenly become the most horrid person in the world, at least in your mind. It’s truly about what you choose to focus on.
What are you focused on right now? No not just reading this article, but in the back of your mind, in between the lines? What was on your mind before you started reading? Where our dominant thoughts lie will continue to be evident in our lives. What you are thinking about will always expand.
So here’s a noble idea, focus on what you’re grateful for. That might sound corny or really cliché but it’s really not about some quick fix, but changing your focus changes what happens around you. You could be at your lowest low in this moment, you could be in your deepest depression in this moment, you could be in your greatest struggle right now and yet you have much to be grateful for. If you can find that youre grateful for having shoes on your feet when someone may not have any, then you’ll find that you have a lot more to be grateful for than just shoes. If you can be grateful for the car you have to drive when someone is on the bus, or even the bus you catch when someone has to walk, then it expands what’s good for you. It’s really a principle that you can only know in practice. It’s like someone trying to describe the color red, you’d have to see it for yourself. If you can focus on your good health, or your good personality, or your good job, then you’ll find that you have more good. And then like Black Beetles in the street you’ll have even more.
Remind yourself of the wonderful things in your life, believe me you have many. Did a doctor tell you once you couldn’t have a baby and now you have a few children? Did someone tell you that you would never be anyone important and now people look up to you? Those are wondrous things. Don’t let the mundane things in life steal what is golden. In our daily route it’s so easy to forget that we have already experienced miracles, so who are we to assume that there are not more to come? We have much to be grateful for, there are many wonderful things in our lives. The next time you see a black Beetle on the street, remember that it can represent you being aware of what’s good or being aware of what you don’t have. Either way, you’ll have more of what you wish for.
Philippians 4:8 (Amplified)
For the rest, brethren, whatever is true, whatever is worthy of reverence and is honorable and seemly, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely and lovable, whatever is kind and winsome and gracious, if there is any virtue and excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think on and weigh and take account of these things [fix your minds on them].
Psalms 105:5
Remember the wonders He has performed, His miracles, and the rulings He has given.
Copyright 2010