Tuesday, September 28, 2021
Overthinking may be preventing you from being available, fully aware of what you’re doing in the given moment. But above all, it may be preventing you from attending to humanity’s greatest needs – the need to be seen, to be heard, and to be noticed. Children crave attention, and we never lose that as adults. We crave attention, but not half-hearted attention. If you are bothered by your own incessant thinking, or if you are “interrupting” what others say to you by thinking of what you’re going to say next, you aren’t giving others your full attention. You’re self-absorbed in thoughts.
The gift of your full attention is the greatest gift that you can give to the world. You might notice how others are not fully present, today. They may be engaged with their phones or buried in a laptop, eyes averted, absorbed in another world or by what their mind is bothering them about. You might start to observe this in yourself, depriving the present moment of your much-needed attention.
If you’re disturbed by your thoughts, others won’t stick around you for very long. Take a moment to be more fully present, available to others, not to the mental ramblings of your mind. Make eye contact, that’s important too. The world needs to be noticed, seen, and heard – we can all do a better job of giving it more loving attention. Your full attention is a precious and beautiful resource. Give it away freely. The level of focus that you give today will give you a break from being absorbed in your own mental chatter. Be more fully present and listen more intently to others, than to your mind’s ramblings, and you’ll do the world some much-needed good today.