BALANCING THE BIG PICTURE
By constantly balancing the big picture view with the current moment .. your mind will have the necessary instructions to help you sift through loads of data to discover what is truly valuable as it has a compass, or an anchor for WHY it’s filtering through the information. Without this purpose – it wanders. And either all information becomes significant (which is impossible – and overwhelming as such) or none of the information is significant (which can make life feel meaningless).
What one needs to do to really unlock value of their mind, their phone or any resource in this physical existence is take a bigger step back from the myopic day to day or moment to moment view and try to see the bigger picture as it is and where you want to be. Once you have that image, you can begin to work towards it from the zoomed in, more detailed view and everything you are doing will make more sense from the context of ‘what’s valuable right now?’ Rather than getting caught up in the details or overemphasizing something just because it’s present and significant right now, in contrast to the big picture your mind has an easier time filtering what’s not as relevant and therefore doesn’t deserve as much attention as: (1) Where you’re going, (2) the solution for getting there and (3) focusing on what’s important now to get you there.
WHAT YOU FOCUS ON EFFECTS HOW YOU FEEL
Along the way what you choose to focus on also effects how you feel. So as you focus on something meaningful and make progress towards it, you feel good. If what you do now has no meaning relative to a big picture because you’re not even sure what the big picture is, you may feel lost. Because in some ways- you are. The ‘lostness’ you feel is just feedback that you haven’t picked a meaningful destination to move towards. Once you do, the fog of uncertainty will lift and you’ll feel more wind in your sails and perhaps even more sunshine on your face.
ACTIVATING YOUR INNER CREATOR AND MAGNETIZATION
By exercising choice you are activating your power as a co-creator of this reality. Not simply living in it and consuming, but actively creating. You are a creator! The more clear you are on what you want to create, the more you activate your mind on all levels, both conscious and subconscious – to make it happen. And you also activate forces within the universe to magnetize to you anything that’s of equal vibration or frequency as what you want to create. As a thought form is nothing but energy, and like-energy attracts like-energy.
HOW FAST THE MIND CAN START BUILDiNG A MAP
Imagine for a moment you’re traveling from where you are now to a country and town you’ve never been to before. You leave in about 2 hours. And you’ll be en route for the next 48 hours. Suddenly your mind shifts into high gear.. what do you want to bring? What do you want to leave behind? Who are you going with? Who do you need to inform about your trip? Have you booked your tickets? What luggage will you bring? Do you have enough money on you or should you withdraw more cash? Will they accept credit cards? How will you get to the airport? What gate is the plane taking off from? And so on. The rush of questions that filled this example are familiar to most travelers. The rush of excitement that comes with travel, especially last minute travel, can also leave some feeling quite anxious and overwhelmed as there are many questions left unanswered. But the point here is clear – once you know what you’re doing, where you’re going and how soon you want to get there – the brain goes to work constructing a map (through asking the best questions it can relative to the objective) to help you get there safe and sound. It’s a fascinating example of how even a little clarity gives your brain something to anchor to.. as if it’s always just waiting for clear instructions and then says, OK I’m on it! Let’s answer these questions to get there.
KEEP CHANGING YOUR MIND? CONFIDENCE AND MOMENTUM GOES DOWN
Now if you keep always changing where you want to go.. the moment you change direction the brain starts from scratch again. Or has to pick up where it left off if you keep switching back and forth. In this process it can lose something very important called momentum. As the mind concentrates on a task or objective it builds up energy, and it begins to move faster and faster unless you hit the breaks or suddenly shift direction. This is the equivalent of changing your mind all the time. Even if you’re not sure about where you want to go, pick a destination that you can be most sure about or is the closest to where you MIGHT want to go.. and stick with it. Even if you’re wrong you can always change it, but by committing to something and getting to that point, you build concentration and strength of character in overcoming any challenges to get there, which will be very helpful to you in choosing where you want to go next. Additionally your mind and body will be conditioned to take you more seriously when you say you want to go somewhere. This builds confidence. And confidence + momentum is a real force in the world.
WHERE ARE YOU GOING?
Even if you’re not traveling through the physical space right now like in our travel example, to get to a physical destination .. there is somewhere in ‘time’ that you’re trying to get to.. what is that point and why is it important to you? The mind will take you there.. and notice all the details along the way to help you navigate.
THE MIND IS ALWAYS TRYING TO ASSIST YOU
Not sure where you want to go? The mind will emphasize threats to survival more and anything that seems to stop you from simply existing.. because even if you’re not sure where you want to go, at least you’re sure that you still want to be here / stay alive. So the mind never really stops trying to assist you.. its just not sure what you will consider to be the most valuable until you inform it. Once you’ve informed it, you’re in co-creation mode.
It’s like using your cell phone – it can be random and take you down all kinds of rabbit holes that in the moment, you actually want to go down. Otherwise why would you still have the phone in your hand and go down those holes? But it may not be the most valuable use of your time or your phone .. and in that case the phone becomes somewhat of a distraction because IT ENABLES YOU TO GO WHEREVER YOU WANT.
The key thing is that you’re still going where you want in the moment, to satisfy some curiosity or play a game or do something that feels significant in the moment.
BEING CONTENT IN THE MOMENT VS HAVING A DESTINATION
So how you view the present moment depends on where you wish to be in a future moment. If you’re perfectly content in the present moment and don’t wish to go anywhere else from here, like a Zen monk perhaps – then everything in the moment absorbs the awareness. This rich state of being is the quest of some avid mediators and philosophies like Taoism that practice simply THE WAY , which is being present and yielding like water.
In the way.. you leave yourself open to the magical or seemingly random unfolding of the universe and simply experience the richness of being present. Any other kind of thinking plans imprints the present with an instruction .. filter the present for what’s useful now to get me where I want to go.
CHOOSE YOUR OWN PATH
I believe that there’s no right way to explore reality, which is why we have such diversity. Ultimately it’s about choosing the way that brings you the most joy and fulfillment. It can be fun to play a game that has a future outcome that you’re playing for. Other times that can feel stressful and unfulfilling when all you want to do is relax. I think it depends on where you are in any given moment in time, striving can be fulfilling if the challenge is not overwhelming or seemingly impossible and the rewards seem just for the effort involved.
I think the main thing is to choose your path and stick to it for a while. Whether that’s to be fully present or get to a specific destination. At least when you move or rest with certainty, you build up your strength, confidence and momentum. But when you demonstrate uncertainty to yourself, you feel neither rested nor powerful. Choose the latter and just step into the experiment with boldness.
Nothing in life is guaranteed. Failure is only feedback. And nobody really has the answers.
All of life is an experiment, so enjoy seeing each experiment through to a conclusion that sets you up well for the next one.