Over the past few months, we have been exploring various approaches to living a more fulfilling and uplifting life, beginning with a series of posts about inspiration, aspiration and the role of a positive focus.
If you have been following these, you know that some readers have missed the point pretty dramatically, even going so far as to claim that I am suggesting that the secret to life is pretending that a negative occurrence is somehow positive.
However, I have said over and over again, that if you are going to make lemonade out of the lemons, you need to start with a positive focus on a positive outcome. Positive focus on positive outcomes - not wishful thinking or denial of reality. Just plain, simple, positive focus.
Some have quibbled about whether or not the words should be vision, purpose, outcome, focus, or some other preferred lexicon. Frankly, I could not care less. The only point that matters is maintaining a focus on a positive outcome, on what matters most to you. And, once again, focusing on a positive outcome is very different from pretending that something negative is positive.
The underlying premise to the value of holding a positive focus on a positive outcome contains two basic fundamentals: (1) energy follows thought and (2) the universe rewards action, not thought.
Energy Follows Thought
Have you ever noticed that if you persist in a thought, some kind of energy will begin to show up? In can be as simple as thinking about eating a favorite food and having saliva show up in your mouth. For those who need something even more basic, have you ever gotten yourself excited simply by holding a thought in your head? There are countless examples that could be developed here, but I think the basic idea should be pretty obvious: hold a thought in your head long enough and you will begin to experience some kind of energy related to the thought.
However, day dreaming about food or sex or a new job or becoming the next zillionaire will probably not be sufficient to create any change in your circumstance. Sooner or later, you are going to have to act on your thoughts, and you will probably need some kind of energy to get you going.
Thought, in this case, a form of thought I am calling a positive focus, is a necessary but not sufficient precursor to creating something in life. That's because, the universe rewards action, not thought.
The Universe Rewards Action, Not Thought
If all it took were a few well imagined circumstances and persistent positive thought, there would be all manner of zillionaires out there. However, it is probably evident to most that you are unlikely to produce much of substance simply by thinking about something.
Sooner or later, you are going to have get up off your duff, get yourself actively engaged in the area of your focus, and start to do the work necessary. Surely it is obvious that results typically come after some kind of effort or energy is expended in a particular direction.
Notice that I did not say that just because you hold a positive thought, something positive will occur. Neither did I say that just because you got all energized about it, something positive would occur. In fact, you can hold a real nice, positive thought about a great outcome, get yourself revved up about it, do a whole bunch of things that you think should work and still come up short.
That's because the universe rewards action, not thought. And, sometimes the "rewards" may take the form of "negative" results or "negative" feedback.
The tricky part here is that when you hold a thought about a positive outcome and take affirmative action in that direction, the universe will reward your involvement, it will provide feedback. However, that doesn't necessarily mean that you are going to get what you were hoping for.
Sometimes, feedback shows up to let you know you are off course. Is that negative feedback? Well, yes, in a way. However, it could be the kind of negative feedback that tells you the bridge is out and you need to take an alternative route. Sometimes, negative feedback has a really positive impact.
Greed, Gratitude and What You Really Want
In my life, I have noticed that the most common reward comes in the form of information or awareness letting me know that something may be missing. The missing elements could be an ill conceived thought, an ineffective set of actions, or a poorly constructed vision of what it is I truly seek.
Sometimes, and more often than I care to admit, the universe has been pretty good at letting me know that I have made my focus more on the material world than on what matters longer term. I call this the greed-experience continuum. On one end of the spectrum, are the material goals I have created for myself. If I am not mindful, careful, and aware, I may just wind up acquiring the object of my greed focus, and come up well short on the actual experiences I am truly seeking.
The universe has lots of ways of letting me know that I am off course. Feedback sometimes comes in the form of missing the mark on what I thought I wanted. Sometimes it comes in the form of helping me obtain what I thought I wanted, only to rediscover that basic truth, "you can never get enough of what you don't really want."
Either way, coming up short, or "winning" and then winding up disappointed have turned out to be great lessons in my personal development. These days, I am working to learn Gratitude for whatever shows up.
Gratitude for the times when I come up short? Sometimes, I don't get what I think I want only to discover that something of even greater value is just downstream a bit. Sometimes the object of my focus can actually prevent me from getting what I truly want.
Gratitude for disappointment? Sometimes, the lesson shows up by achieving what I thought I wanted, only to learn that there is something deeper, something more connected to my real values, a quality of experience that far outweighs the material object of my focus.
We've all heard the now classic cliché about doing the same thing over and over again expecting a different result. Well, what results show up when you try something? Or keep showing up as you try over and over again? What's the message behind the result or results?
It could be as simple as the universe letting you know that your focus is misplaced, that the desired outcome is somehow off, or that the actions you have chosen won't work. If so, what a great opportunity for Gratitude. Better to learn early that something is off, than to go another 10, 20 or 30 years beating your head against an unmoving wall.
You may want to take a look at one of these two articles about what it is you really want out of life. Last year, I wrote one on Symbols vs. Experience asking you to notice the difference between the material areas of focus you may have in life (job, cars, money, house, etc) and a deeper level of experience that you may be seeking (peace, security, strength, caring). More recently, I wrote a piece about What Do You Want Out Of Life, Really, carrying the theme a bit further, suggesting that what you may really be seeking is something more inspired and inspiring, something that comes from or connects you to the Divine, to your Soul, to Spirit.
Thanksgiving is a great time to once again take stock of what matters most to you in the world. If that happens to be something in the material world, read these collections of articles closely and you will find a handful of keys, old keys to be sure, but keys nonetheless that can help you unlock your own ability to create more of what you seek. Not necessarily all of what you seek, but certainly more.
And, if you have been around the block enough times to know that the scorecard that matters most to you has less to do with your stockpile of possessions, and more to do with the quality of your life experience, then really read these articles closely and you may discover any number of keys that can help you create more of what you truly seek.
For me, what I truly seek in life is the experience of alignment with Spirit, with the Divine. I most notice and experience that alignment when I am caring, loving, and living in a state of inner peace. Gratitude has been a significant key in allowing more of these qualities into my life experience. I will be writing more on the role of gratitude as a key to finding your source of inspiration, aspiration and enthusiasm.
I'd love to hear from you. Please do leave a comment here or drop me an email at Russell (at) russellbishop.com.
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If you want more information on how you can apply this kind of reframing to your life and to your job, about a few simple steps that may wind up transforming your life, please download a free chapter from my book, Workarounds That Work. You'll be glad you did.
Russell Bishop is an educational psychologist, author, executive coach and management consultant based in Santa Barbara, Calif. You can learn more about my work by visiting my website at www.RussellBishop.com. You can contact me by e-mail at Russell (at) russellbishop.com.