Daily Inspiration 12-18-15

"There is no terror in the bang, 

only in the anticipation of it." 

-- Alfred Hitchcock 

There's a lot going on in the world. As if that has ever changed. And, if you watch the news today, or 50 years ago today, the vast majority of the news reported will be dripping in fear, boiling in anticipation of some projected situation as if the facts that we have created support its realization. Heck, even the commercials in between the dark rhetoric are doing the same thing--creating more fear. Drama, drama, drama. There's plenty to be upset about. We don't even need to try. There it is. People around us are upset and asking if we heard about the latest. . .

But, every single nano-bit of that is a choice. Is it real? Sure. Everything we experience can be called real--even that which we are thinking, and it is even much more that which we are thinking than what we are seeing that is affecting us. It's a choice of focus; of attention. Where will we decide to place our attention? The answer to that is what we see as our reality.

Here's a delightful and insightful message from Pam Grout and her uniquely inspiring book, E-Squared:

"Let's take being broke, for example. Most of us can agree we don't want to be broke. So what do we do? We devote our minds to avoiding it. We work long hours. We call our stockbrokers. We read books and articles about getting rich, fully ignoring the fact that by trying to "get" rich, we are devoting our minds to the idea that we're not already rich. Consequently, we've decided in advance to be broke. 

If we simply devote our minds to feeling rich, to being grateful for all the already-apparent riches in our lives--say, our families and our wonderful friends--being broke would disappear. We only experience it because we devote our thoughts to it. That's how powerful our minds are." 

Some might say, "but, if I ignore what is in the news, it will be like me putting my head in the sand and being ignorant of what is going on in the world. You want me to put my head in the sand?" I say, YES! Emphatically, Yes! Unless. . . that is the world you want to live in. If it is, great. Jump in. Start a movement, get in there and stir it up. If that lights your fire and has you feeling good, that is perfect for you.

However, if that stuff is having you feeling bad, upset, unhappy, then that is the indication that you want not that. Turn your head toward that which causes you to feel better, to feel good.

The world is not as dark as the press, publications, television, and the Internet make it up to be (and making it up is the right phrase!), but there are a plethora of messages in that place. There is another reality that this is but a small portion of what the world is like. This reality sees a bright present and future, full of love and growth, and impending joy. It focuses on solutions to contrast rather than on the contrast itself seeing only problems. The world you choose to focus your attention on determines the world you live in. The choice is always our own. It doesn't matter what others are focusing on. They make their own choices of focus and attention. The choice is always our own to make.


I Choose To Be Rich Because I AM Rich. 

Spread Some Joy Today--or not. It is, of course, your choice. I choose joy.