The Treadmill in the Head

Right-wing terror, corona virus or crazy politicians, there are just enough things that get my attention right now. Actually, there are a thousand things I would rather deal with than these and yet my attention sticks to always new news, facts and information on topics that are not really good for me.

Of course you have to inform yourself, but there is a huge difference between informing and an unquenchable urge to get information on a certain topic. Media know exactly what power certain information, headlines and formulations can have. And faster than I can even look, there it is, the treadmill in my head, which alternates with thoughts, proofs, feelings and information and pulls me in deeper and deeper like a suction. The worst thing about it, at such moments I have the feeling that I just can’t get out of this thing.

In the Avatar training I learned a lot about permanent loops in my head. Because there’s a way to get out of it. I found it exciting to see how my attention works in such moments and how little I have control over it – where it goes, sticks and what effect it has on my personal feeling.

Wouldn’t it be great if I myself could have more influence on what my own mind is occupied with and how I feed it?

Moments when I increased this influence were the ones that changed my life forever. I practiced with little things like concerns or minor annoyances. But the whole thing also worked with bigger issues in life, like finding a partner or improving a financial situation. I experienced that things from my life disappeared again when I was able to release the attention that was fixed on them. Other situations arose only because I directed the attention there, and what I found additionally interesting was how contagious this is for other people.

It is not about ignorance, looking away, or making fine speeches. If you have more power over your attention, you can talk about Donald Trump, Corona or a shift to the right in Germany, but also let it go. Namely at the exact moment when YOU decide. You might even redirect your attention to something that is more helpful for the moment. For example, the many good projects, people and organizations that exist in this world, maybe the gratitude for your own health or your personal ideas with which you can do something better.

Could it be that the things we give attention to are growing? With a little bit of search we all have perfect examples of this in our lives. Then the next question would be, why don’t we celebrate even louder, the things that work?

If you were to use this ability more consciously, what would it be that you wanted to see grow? To be happy, to achieve your own life goals, to find common solutions for climate protection or to find your own contribution to making the world a little better every day. OR, instead you get stuck in a fainting world-weariness. The choice is ours.

And what would happen if it were to turn into another undertow, this time infecting people from our surroundings until they get into action and feel better? Infection works both ways.

For one person it might sound a bit bizarre and for the other it sounds so succinct or not easy to implement in life. If we want to learn how to keep calm on the inside, especially when the outside goes crazy, we should pay more attention.

In fact, I think it’s one of the most powerful things you can learn.

“Peace of mind is not produced by pleas or supplication, but by achieving command of your own attention.”

Harry Palmer, Author of the Avatar Materials
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