{"id":2307,"date":"2020-07-15T03:00:00","date_gmt":"2020-07-15T08:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/shop.honestreflections.net\/?p=2307"},"modified":"2020-07-01T07:22:22","modified_gmt":"2020-07-01T12:22:22","slug":"are-you-focusing-on-the-wrong-things-in-your-life","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.honestreflections.net\/index.php\/2020\/07\/15\/are-you-focusing-on-the-wrong-things-in-your-life\/","title":{"rendered":"ARE YOU FOCUSING ON THE WRONG THINGS IN YOUR LIFE?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

\u201cA person\u2019s wisdom yields patience; it is to one\u2019s glory to overlook an offense.\u201d (Proverbs 19:11 NIV)<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Focus on bad, you\u2019ll find bad.  Focus on good, you\u2019ll find good.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In life, we tend to zoom in on the things that aren\u2019t great.  We let one minor offense ruin our day.  I\u2019ve been guilty of this.  I\u2019ve gotten mad at the person who cut me off in traffic.  I\u2019ve created an entire narrative in my head about how insensitive and selfish they are.   A stranger causes me to lose my lid.  Chances are, they didn\u2019t even realize they cut me off.  A lot of time they don\u2019t, yet I think their actions are specifically targeted towards me.  The worst part is the time I  waste fuming over this minor infraction.   I let one bad moment rule my day.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Focus on bad, you\u2019ll find bad.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

If we don\u2019t overlook an offense, we\u2019ll only find more.  Once someone has offended you, everything they do becomes offensive.  We have to take charge of our thoughts.  We have to take charge of our actions.  We have to let the offense go so it doesn\u2019t destroy our relationship, and our day.  The larger we perceive the offense, the harder it is to let go.  But only in the letting go, can we find freedom to live.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When someone cuts me off in traffic, I can let it go or let it grow.  If I immediately recognize the act wasn\u2019t intentional, I have an easier time releasing it.  But if I don’t let the moment go, if I dwell on it, I\u2019m focusing on the bad.  Once I start focusing on the bad, everything seems bad.  The sun is too hot, the line in the grocery store is too long, my husband too loud, the house too messy, the list goes on and on.  What we focus on determines what we find.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I listened to a podcast by Dr. Laurie Santos<\/a> and Dr. Jamil Zaki<\/a>.\u00a0 They discussed strategies for happiness, based on scientific data.\u00a0 Dr. Zaki talked about focusing our minds.\u00a0 In this time of pandemic, the news focuses on the bad happening in the world.\u00a0 Dr. Zaki suggested we focus on the good instead.\u00a0 Because a lot of good is happening.\u00a0 Search #COVIDKindness and you\u2019ll find hundreds of posts of good deeds.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Focus on the good, you\u2019ll find good.  Don\u2019t allow one bad moment ruin your entire day.  Instead, take a deep breath.  Focus on the air as it flows over your mouth, deep into your belly.  Close your eyes, concentrate on the slow intake of air filling your lungs to capacity.  Now let the breath go just as slowly.  Repeat as necessary.  Release the offense, embrace renewed life.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Question of the Day:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

What offense do you need to release today?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Further Reading: <\/strong>1 Chronicles 19-21 NIV<\/a>,  Romans 2:25-3:8 NIV<\/a>, Psalm 11:1-7 NIV<\/a>, Proverbs 19:10-12 NIV<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u201cA person\u2019s wisdom yields patience; it is to one\u2019s glory to overlook an offense.\u201d (Proverbs 19:11 NIV) Focus on bad, you\u2019ll find bad.  Focus on good, you\u2019ll find good. In life, we tend to zoom in on the things that aren\u2019t great.  We let one minor offense ruin our day.  I\u2019ve been guilty of this. … Continue reading ARE YOU FOCUSING ON THE WRONG THINGS IN YOUR LIFE?<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2307","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","without-featured-image"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.honestreflections.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2307","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.honestreflections.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.honestreflections.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.honestreflections.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.honestreflections.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2307"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.honestreflections.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2307\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2309,"href":"https:\/\/www.honestreflections.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2307\/revisions\/2309"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.honestreflections.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2307"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.honestreflections.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2307"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.honestreflections.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2307"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}