Avoiding death by cucumber :)

I love watching babies when I’m out and about. They’re so in tune. I watch them scan the grocery store or the area around them for things that interest them. They do yoga in their parents’ arms, twisting and stretching to reach for whatever they’re focused upon. And if they don’t want the binky or the bottle, they throw it to the floor. They are masters at tuning into what feels wonderful!

I think we lose a lot of that “natural selection” along the way. We watch others and learn how we should feel, what we should focus on, and how we should react to life. I once took a friend’s five-year-old to see Fourth of July fireworks for the first time. Mama was tired, but the little one badly wanted to go. So we hopped in the car, drove to the park, and sat in great anticipation as she quizzed me about what they’d be like. None of my explanations prepared her for the first explosive boom.

Her eyes widened. She put her hands over her ears and looked at me. I could feel her question: “How do I react to this?” I knew in that instant my response would define her relationship to fireworks for years to come. I smiled, oohed, ahhed, and clapped elatedly. She joined me, and for the remainder of the show we gasped, squealed, and clapped in unabashed delight. She practically danced in my lap. Our joy continued to escalate. I don’t believe she slept much that night, but oh, what fun we had!

And that focus on a joyful thought set up a pattern that spiraled in so many directions, etching new pathways and patterns in her brain. “The unfamiliar can be fun.” “Loud noises are not necessarily scary.” “Fireworks are exciting!” “Life is fun with friends who share the joy!” “The Fourth is fun!” A single focused thought of joy attuned her to so much more throughout the years.

We’re like that, too. The first time you shift from a bad mood to a pleasing thought, there is a surprising elation. We love our soul’s freedom to choose. We love knowing we are not controlled by our circumstances. Possibilities dance around the edges of our minds as we take in the new belief: “I really do create my reality.” It takes practice to maintain this sense of empowerment. It is a new paradigm of reality, but it is well worth the effort.

This week, the power of focus saved me again. I buy organic food and wash my produce before eating it. But this particular day, I was in a rush and tossed it in the fridge. Later, I pulled out a cucumber and bit into it. A very loud thought crossed my mind: “You should have washed it.” I didn’t feel like pulling it out of the ranch dressing I’d drowned it in, so I ate the rest. Within an hour, I felt my throat start to scratch and swell. I didn’t pay much attention. I just went to bed thinking I’d sleep off whatever was trying to get me.

I woke up with what I later understood was a full-blown allergic reaction. My throat was nearly swollen shut, my eyes were puffy, and I felt like I had somehow become a bag of marshmallows squashed together under too much pressure! Strangely—or perhaps due to years of practice—I didn’t get worked up. My first thought was simply, “Well, this is new.”It didn’t feel like a cold or a virus. I stopped wondering what it was and shifted my focus instead. I had work in two hours and was determined to feel better by then.

I shut my eyes and focused on a memory of hiking in the woods—how it smelled, looked, and sounded, and most importantly, how alive I felt as I inhaled the forest air. I started to breathe rhythmically, as slowly and deeply as I could manage.

Slowly, the swelling began to decrease. Within twenty minutes, I was able to do my morning yoga, and an hour later, I had only a mild allergic reaction akin to the unpleasant sniffles you get from kicking up dust in the yard. Later, the angels told me there had been chemicals on that particular batch of cucumbers. Whatever it was, it didn’t agree with me! And thank God for focus! I don’t want my epitaph to read, “She lived. She loved. She died by cucumber!” OMG! Feel free to laugh!

But on a serious note, focus is everything. As I mentioned in previous newsletters, the brilliant, beautiful astronauts who just went to the moon and back are speaking openly about love and joy, unity within diversity, and the power of relationships and working together. They have captivated the attention and focus of thousands worldwide. A new generation of kids is watching, hanging on to every word, and learning positive values. They are inspiring many adults to remember that we must give each other grace in spite of differences and recognize that we’re all one crew here upon planet Earth. I have been binge-watching their interviews, thrilled to see the words of the angels coming out of the mouths of humans and shifting the balance of focus on this earth.

So while nearly every sensitive person I’ve talked to this year is feeling some overwhelm, exhaustion, or anxiety simply due to the intensity of the energies vying for our attention, we can still pick and choose what we focus upon—and it will make a beautiful impact on the quality of our lives.

Here are some ways you can develop your superpower of focusing:

1.  Practice

At least once a day, no matter where you are, scan your environment for something that pleases you. Focus on it and what you like about it. See if you can notice all the qualities that delight you. If you look at the sky, admire the blue, the clouds, the expansiveness, and the way it makes you feel. If your attention strays, bring it back and try again. Over time, this will become very easy, and you will reach very deep states of consciousness through intense focus. It just takes practice.

Abraham-Hicks, the channel who brought the Law of Attraction into mass consciousness, says it takes about 68 seconds for a new thought to start creating a new reality. I suspect it has something to do with how the brain rewires!

In any case, choosing to focus on something you like for even a minute or two will prove to you that you can change both your thoughts and feelings.

2. Find Your Happy Thoughts

As a child, I loved the Disney film, Peter Pan. He knew the secret to life. Happy thoughts lifted you and made you fly! I spent a lot of time thinking happy thoughts and waiting to float, and while that never quite worked out physically, I did learn through trial and error that I could change my focus.

It is useful to have some thoughts in reserve that bring a smile to your heart. When times are tough, take a mental vacation. Go to your happy place, think your happy thoughts, and give yourself the grace of escaping whatever “reality” is showing you in the moment.

When you elevate yourself with anything, your new vibration elevates everything.

3. Focus on What Is Good in the People Around You

When I was a young engineer, one of my bosses told me I’d make a great systems engineer. That position involved oversight and a great deal of responsibility. I hadn’t seen myself as capable of that until he expressed confidence in me. The path I walked was deeply influenced by his ability to see more in me than I saw in myself.

When we focus on the best in people, we feel better. It doesn’t mean we don’t see the rest. It simply means we want to feel good. And if we must be around them, it pays to focus on the best.

The bonus is that your focus will either help them bring their best to the surface more often, or they’ll eventually leave you alone due to vibrational incompatibility!

It is a challenging time to be sensitive, but if you can practice the power of focus, it can also be fun. The highs are higher. The lows are lower, but somehow the highs become even more powerful. Put yourself in a good focus flow and you’ll watch life organize itself as if by magic. Stay in a negative focus—or do nothing—and you may feel tossed about like a piece of driftwood in stormy seas.

You deserve to feel good. You deserve to focus on the good.  The rest of the world is free to do what it wants 🙂