What You Focus on Expands

What you focus on expands.
 
This phrase was in Goal-Free Living. Stephen Shapiro was talking about decisions being only decisions, not right or wrong, and how if you focus on wrong you will see all sorts of reasons it is wrong, but if you focus on right you will see all sorts of reasons it is right.
 
When I saw that phrase I realized that was exactly the phrase I need when talking about “beliefs.”
 
Think about it…if you believe everyone is out to get you, you will “see” all the ways they are. If you believe the world is plotting to do you good, that is what you will see. What you focus on expands.
 
If you focus on what goes right in your life, what goes right expands and you don’t notice what goes wrong, other than in passing perhaps. But if you dwell on all the “bad” things that happen to you, the cruelty and injustice of your lot in life expands and becomes your reality. What you focus on expands.
 
It doesn’t change anything. Life is the way it is. People are the way they are. Things happen without rhyme or reason. But what you focus on becomes your reality.
 
If you stop focusing on something, it fades away.
 
When I believed in Christianity, that was my focus. I looked for ways that God was at work…and found them. Just like you can make the Bible prove just about any point, one can find God at work in any coincidence or happening.
 
Not that I’d want to (and really you guys, I don’t want to), but I couldn’t convince my friends and family who are Christians otherwise, because they see the hand of God at work in their lives. So to them it is real. What you focus on expands.
 
When I was in therapy my therapist thought I had probably been sexually abused by someone close to me when I was young. Two of my friends were in therapy at the same time they were also focused on sexual abuse in their childhood. We spend many, many hours discussing this, reading books about it, going to support groups and classes until everything  in my life pointed to abuse. I made a huge mistake because of that focus, because I came to believe I was a victim.
 
What are the lessons here?
 
Be careful about what you focus on. Positive focus is better than negative focus. Step back from time to time and look at the whole picture. Be aware and enjoy the benefits of positive focus. If you are not sure, try changing your focus for awhile to see the other side of the story.
 
What you focus on expands - use it for good.
 
 
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2 Responses to “What You Focus on Expands”

  1. lil angel Says:
    March 22nd, 2006 at 11:05 pm

    So what if you focus on not believing in Christianity?

  2. Theresa Says:
    March 23rd, 2006 at 8:23 am

    If you focused on not believing in Christianity you could find all sorts of reasons not to believe. There are so many things that do not add up.

    That’s not what happened to me, though. It was a gradual sense of awakening as I removed myself from the small box of Christianity I was in. I became more open and less judgemental. Over the years (and it has been years) it became clear to me that the box of Christianity (or any other religion) couldn’t hold the magnificence of the world. The whole truth cannot be contained in any one religion.

    I prefer to be open and to experience life outside the box.

    Now I am off to experience the magnificence of Hawaii - I’m glad I caught you before I left. Aloha!

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