We are constantly making decisions in our everyday
life. Most of these decisions are so
minor and routine that we don’t even notice that we are making them. This is where habits are useful. We can run on automatic pilot, making
predetermined moves, without giving them any thought. That’s pretty efficient. It saves time, energy and headspace. We don’t really have to pay attention.
The downside of not paying attention, of being unaware, is
that AWARENESS EQUALS LIFE. When we are
not aware, we are not really present and not really alive. So, it’s a good idea to control the amount of
automatic behavior that we allow into our days.
We need attention breaks when we pull our heads out of the haze of habit
and become fully present. You probably
have favorite ways to come into the present. Most of us do. We just have to remember to use them.
The bigger decisions in life, the ones that directly bear
on our happiness and wellbeing, can be harder to make. The rational mind is not much help. It’s too easy to get into a “On the one hand”
and “On the other hand” debate in your mind and get stuck there.
Conventional wisdom tells us you should “follow your heart”. That’s good advice but what does it mean? I think it means that I should pay attention
to my emotions.
Emotions have gotten a bad rap. They are sometimes thought of as trivial,
petty, irrational and undependable. They
can be all of that if we don’t know how to use them.
Emotions are precise tools. They are the responses of my wiser self to
the exact thought that I am thinking at any moment. Good feeling emotions indicate that my
current thought is in agreement with my best interests. Bad feeling emotions indicate that my current
thought is in conflict with my best interests.
My emotions are an internal compass that allows me to steer my life
toward happiness and fulfillment.
I steer by choosing thoughts that feel good when I think
them.
