The Road to Heaven is Paved with Good Attention
The road to heaven is paved with good attention. For instance, many of the people who consult a professional report wonder when they stopped enjoying the things they used to. Why did they become mere spectators of their pain or instability? The answer to these questions is that any life circumstance you pay attention to will actually make you look and grow in that direction. The good news is that it doesn’t matter if you’re skilled or clumsy, all you have to do is stay calm and keep your ears open.
Choosing what to pay attention to is the base you’ll build your pyramid on. Paradoxically, it’s also one of the most forgotten ones. This is because you probably spend half of your life on automatic pilot. Thus, your surroundings demand a lot of attention and you’ll only see a few of them unless you learn to focus your attention where it belongs.
As you can see, it’s useless to spend the day thinking about what mortifies you, because it diverts your attention towards an idea or situation that’s not even there. It’s of little use to focus it on what you believe will happen. This is because, even if it does, it won’t be as you imagined it to be. Thus, isn’t it a better idea to pay attention to what truly matters and what you can actually do something about? Isn’t it healthier to use your resources on what’s happening in the present?
“Pay attention to what you wish you were doing when you’re doing something else. I hope that doesn’t go over y’all heads.”
-Joyce Rachelle-
The road to heaven is paved with good attention
The brain is in charge of sending about 50,000 automatic, repetitive, thoughts per day. Thus, you must keep them from occupying your attention, as they’ll affect you otherwise. Theoretical physicist Jyri Kuusela assures that “The brain is working even when you’re sitting down doing nothing so you can train it to act on your behalf”. (She works for the ESA and promotes the implantation of “neurofeedback”).
Also, according to Elsa Punset, who specialized in social intelligence, “People must set their brain in positive mode”. Do you already know this? Why don’t you act upon it, then? You must start working on attention, or rather, good attention, in order to reprogram your brain.
Don’t look back in anger nor forward in fear, the road to heaven is filled with good attention
Doing one thing at a time means you’re paying attention to what you’re doing; thus, you’re giving it your full attention. This action connects you to where it’s beneficial and profitable for your body and mind.
Working on automatic pilot is the opposite of it, as you aren’t aware of what you’re doing while you’re doing it. In other words, you’re disconnecting from the present by performing routine activities while wandering through another place and time.
The benefits of living in the moment are many, according to several studies. It’s a good thing to train the mind to remain in the present moment without changing anything, with an attitude of openness and acceptance of reality. This is because it leads to significant structural and functional changes in the brain. Especially in the areas associated with well-being and happiness.
Spontaneous attention is the only thing that’s there, until education and artificial means intervene. This isn’t the case in children and other animals. There’s only strong or weak, always and everywhere as emotional states. As you can see, this rule is absolute and there’s no exception.
People often don’t pay attention to what isn’t going to happen
Someone somewhere said that you shouldn’t raise your voice when you want others to pay attention to what you say. Lowering it instead is what really gets people’s attention. It may be that people seldom like what’s best for us; we like the unknown instead.
One of the things everyone must work on is knowing how to focus attention on what’s most useful and/or best for us. In other words, we need to stop wandering into unrealistic struggles and get lost in our thoughts while life slips away.
The doors of perception are open to everyone. Thus, people find it impossible to devote serious attention to anything but words and notions in a world where education is predominantly verbal.
Owning your attention will keep problems like anxiety and depression at bay. This is good because they’ll otherwise take over your mind. Especially when you remain in the past, the uncertain, and/or the external.
There can’t be a set in an empty space and it isn’t empty if there is. The viewer’s mind is already full of air and an empty space tells no story. Thus, every viewer’s imagination, attention, and thought processes are free. As you can see, the road to heaven is filled with good attention.
