Most of us have seen or heard the parable about the Two Wolves (if not here it is). It’s a very simple way of demonstrating how we create or ease conflict. In the same vein, I feel it’s useful to consider anything we choose to give our attention to, as being the thing that becomes the most prominent.

Is it obvious that we are our thoughts?

We might think it obvious that if we’re preoccupied with thoughts of anger, revenge, guilt, or any negative, that it eventually reflects in the body and how we behave. And yet is it that obvious? Surely if people really were aware of how the bodymind is affected by thoughts and behaviour, they’d modify this, by taking better care of their minds.

It does, once again, come down to awareness

We can only imagine how the world would be if our leaders paid more attention to their own thoughts and behaviour. My own recent thoughts relating to death and loss have brought this issue home to me. I’ve recently been telling myself that with each peaceful person we lose, the world feels like a darker place. And indeed it will be if we give these kind of thoughts attention.

The antidote is the awareness of our thoughts

Everyday the world experiences gains and losses. Everyday something is destroyed and something is created. There is a natural balance within the universe, it’s something I believe. And so we can choose to tip this balance – through dark depressive thoughts – or we can tip it the other way, it is entirely up to us.

The joy of attention is all about realising how our lives are dictated by our thoughts

Those who lust for power and influence through nefarious means will always end their days in a sticky mess. It’s the old proverb: Live by the sword die by the sword. Much better to pay attention to the beauty, love, peace and kindness there is in the world. And no matter how prevalent those who lust for what they can’t have might seem, simply place your attention on what you already have, for however long, that might be.