I've got 99 Problems..and then there were none

The brain is a very complex and amazing organ. It is forever filtering infinite amounts of inputs, sounds, sights, smells and on and on…AMAZING!! I have read that a lot of this information we receive is not recognized. That is because we focus our attention on the things and people that we care about. That is why we have people in our lives that only focus on the negative things while others can always point out the good, the positive things. Which person are you? Whichever one you focus on, once you make the decision to see the negative or the positive, you begin to see that thing everywhere! We all see the world differently. I know that lately, the world has so much ugly going on that I have been working on removing the worry from my mind and trusting that God knows it all and He is in control.

Can you do that? Can you just experience something negative and not react to it? Do you notice that once one negative thing happens, it seems that the negative train pulls into the station and everyone and everything negative gets off? That is all due to our brains and its filter. We give our attention to things that give us that certain feeling, interest or excite us. When I purchased my car, I did not see many of them but once I drove off of the lot, they were everywhere! I know I am not the only one. Anyway…

I am starting to pay more attention to the world around me. Trying not to be so caught up on my phone or newsfeeds so that I can pay better attention to what is happening in the world. There is so much information, so much magic in experiencing life!! Not just existing, but living. Ultimately, there is a place we want to go in life, goals that we want to achieve. The journey may be long or short, could be “normal” or extraordinary. When life seems “normal” or downright boring, that may be because you are not paying attention to what is really happening, even the small things. You may be letting someone or something tell you how to live. We are all originals. I am a designer original, I don’t know about you. No one has a manual to how we should live so we cannot let others dictate where we should go or how fast we have to get there. YOU are the boss of you. What people think about you not taking their direction? NOT your problem!

We have to train our brain. We have to tell it our goals, over and over again. You have to feed it positive things about what we want to do, and about ourselves. I cannot tell you how many times I have talked myself out of things I wanted to do because of the uncertainty of the outcome. Now I have to spend just as much time talking myself into pushing through…into saying beautiful things about myself or getting rid of things and people that do not serve my inner goddess.

We have to know what we want in order to train our brain to get familiar with it. That means we have to be sure about it because whatever we continue to repeat will be what our brain learns. We cannot float through life waiting for someone to give us instructions and suggestions all of the time. You are the one living your life so you have to spend some quiet time alone learning who you are, what you like and who you have in your corner. Be careful who you ask for advice too. I often tried to get the opinion of people that I “trusted”. We have to remember that if you follow them, you are going to eventually get to where they are. If you wouldn’t trade lives with them, they may not be the person you should take advice from agreed? Think about that. Some divorced individuals may be able to tell you how to have a successful marriage because they took the time to evaluate their experience and make the necessary changes but MOST are still bitter and they will not be thinking about your situation when you ask; they will be associating it with their break-up and hand you some bad advice. If the person you want to ask is not moving forward and growing, you will not be either following behind them. Lots of people have plenty of what they call good advice but step back and watch how they live. Are they “walking the walk?” Does your doctor tell you not to smoke and you see her outside of the building on her 15 minute smoke break? (blank stare) The people that you see living their truth are the ones you want to sit down with at lunch and pick their brain. Those others and their bad advice? NOT your problem….

When we really make a decision to carry out one of our ideas, we will do everything we know to do to make it happen. I know for sure that has happened to me with the things that I currently have my brain wrapped around, this blog being one of them. With the drive I have and lots and lots of prayer, things are coming together…at whatever speed that it is supposed to. I am not in a rush but I definitely want all of my ideas to be as big as they can be. “Whatever the mind can conceive and believe, it can achieve”, says Napoleon Hill. I believe that. It can go in a positive or negative direction, nevertheless, it is so factual. Someone else’s limiting beliefs? NOT your problem. Someone’s well meant advice that you didn’t follow and they get upset? NOT your problem.

Human nature can make us kind of nosy so we are watching everyone and everything. We can be influenced subconsciously as well as consciously so be mindful of what you let stick. We have to search out the people who are working hard to achieve their dreams. As we watch them climb while working at a high level, we need to keep our eyes on their results and find out how they think and start emulating that.

Once we figure out what we want, we will start to see the opportunities present themselves and recognize them. A lot of people are so deep in their negative mindset that they miss the opportunities to better themselves and their lives as a whole. With the opportunity, we also need the courage to go after it and not procrastinate..(my hand is raised to this one on some things). We have to have the discernment that we need to know when to say yes to the right opportunities and “no” to what is not going to serve us so that we do not get distracted. Even a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity may be something that slows you down if it doesn’t line up with your goals. What we focus on GROWS. Filter out all of the noise and run with your truth. Train your brain to focus on what you truly want in your life, the distracting thing will eventually shrink or disappear.