We are what we pay attention to

We are what we pay attention to.

I was humbly reminded of this after a couple of chance encounters this morning:

The first encounter was at a coffee shop where some strangers said unkind things toward me as I walked by them. I left speechless and disappointed and spent the better part of the morning thinking about it.

The second encounter was on my Facebook feed of all places that presented me with some timely advice that I’d actually posted… 10 years ago: “We’re not forever bound to whatever seemingly unfortunate circumstances we might have going on…for every seemingly bad thing in life, there are a handful of good things that we’re just not paying attention to.”

It didn’t take very long for me to redirect my attention after being prompted by these words:

For starters — I’m alive. It genuinely feels good to be here. Time on Earth and with others is a gift.

Later in the afternoon, I went for a run which inspired a whole series of meaningful observations: the run itself felt good, I recognized that it’s a privilege to be able to make choices about what to do with my time on certain days and to have the physical means to run at all.

The world is a big and chaotic place filled with plenty of good and bad things to experience.

While we cannot avoid unfortunate experiences altogether, we are capable of redirecting our attention in a way that helps us feel good, empowered, and able to move forward.