The Power of Attention
To become a master of your own dream is an ever-evolving work in progress, and one of the most important things we can strive for in this life.
It means coming to recognize and respect the deeply interconnected relationship between you and the force of Life. You begin to experientially understand that you are intent made manifest—that your thoughts, beliefs, and the attention you give them influences the currents of your reality.
This does not necessarily mean that you can control the world around you. There are many things in life that are beyond our control. However, as we become more conscious of our intent and where we place our attention, we begin to recognize how much influence we have over the way we experience and participate in Life.
Where you place your attention matters, and it matters very much.
How many of us have watched a scary movie or read about a current event, only to then have a dream about that very thing? Is this not an indicator of how deeply our subconscious registers what it consumes and plays it out in some way?
Our world today is built on externalization. Our focus and attention are often directed toward what other people are doing, the endless drama and pain we take in through television, social media, or music. These subtle vibrations infiltrate our psyche and influence our lived experiences.
Furthermore, and most importantly, our inner worlds are filled with undigested wounds, beliefs, and conditioned patterns that we are simply not aware of. We interface with situations in our lives through these filters—through the eyes of fear, abandonment, worry, control, insecurity, and so on. We unconsciously place our attention on these emotions without realizing that they are fueled by an imbalanced internal operating system.
As a result, we give away our power of attention to the very things that keep us in suffering. We do not realize that we are the masters of our own dream, and for many, this is simply because they were never taught otherwise.
It also takes discipline and vigilance to reclaim this power. We must recall our energy and direct our attention toward the things that feed our body, mind, and spirit, and encourage life-affirming thoughts and actions.
To become a master of your own dream, you must first master the power of attention. You must become truly aware of what you absorb, both externally and internally. What thoughts hook you? How does one thought lead to another until, before you know it, you are enveloped in fear and stress because you didn't catch the pattern sooner?
Awareness is the key, and the saving grace. It swoops in and redirects. It offers a higher perspective and opens the door to a different course of action.
This doesn't mean we must resist or judge every difficult thought or emotion that arises. Rather, awareness allows us to recognize what is happening within us without automatically giving it more energy or allowing it to dictate our response. We can acknowledge what we feel while becoming more conscious of what we choose to feed and how we choose to respond.
The more we practice bringing awareness to our attention, the more we begin to recognize the power we have been giving away unconsciously. We begin to see that we have a choice in what we energize, what we give life to, and what we allow to shape our experience.
This is not a one-time accomplishment, but a practice of returning to awareness again and again. Each time we catch ourselves caught in an old story or conditioned response, we have an opportunity to redirect our attention and choose a different way of being.
Over time, this is how we begin to reclaim our energy and become the conscious creators of our own dream.