The Power of Restrictions

When my husband took a music class years ago, he was given a simple project.
Write a song; using just 4 notes.
Ok. Not that simple.
But the reason behind the project was simple.
Restrictions are a powerful focuser.
​When we have all the options in the universe we can easily get scattered.
As a society we’ve tended to get used to a lot of options. Actually, when you consider manifestation and conscious reality creation… you have unlimited potential and possibility.
Which, when you think about it, can feel pretty scattering.
Welcome to the most restricted time most of us have felt in this lifetime.
Lockdown.
At this moment in our lives we, more than ever before, are being asked to focus.
And at the same time, focusing can be a bit of a challenge at the moment.
Ah, the lovely balance of being a human.
With most of your routines and habits being thrown to the wind, it’s no wonder you might be feeling scattered in focus and intention. If neural pathways like balance and to practice the same thing over and over, everything about this situation screams imbalance!
(Even if you are a homeschooler and used to spending lots of time at home, kids are picking up on the energy of the world. They aren’t going to their classes, or even to the grocery store. Things are different, even if they don’t “look” like they are.)
So, that’s why the unfocused scattering.

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And yet, spiritually… energetically… we need all the focus we can muster.
 We’re living in an Energetic Storm.
If you consider that the world has hit pause and people are becoming quiet, there is the feeling of a great Asking.
People are asking the bigger questions, developing new clarity and having bigger desires.
When people ask, spirit always responds. Energy is flowing at an intense rate.
And yet, where attention goes, energy flows.
Which is why if you put your attention on your kids being too loud in the living room while you need to work… they seem to be EXTRA LOUD.
And why, if your partner is driving you up a wall, and you think about how they have always driven you up a wall…. It seems worse than ever.
Or, how if you put attention on not having enough toilet roll… wait no. that’s not happening is it?
 
Where Attention Goes, Energy Flows.

While I was putting together my Creating Spiritual Stability in Unstable Times 7 day challenge,  one thing that has become incredibly clear over this past week is that focus is an inside out job. 
It’s not about having your life look like you are focused.
Rather, it’s taking that moment, that simple 20 second moment, to call in connection, focus on your feet and on allowing and let yourself BE the focus.
This is a muscle that takes some stretching, as it turns out self care is always just caring for yourself…
And what self care looks like doesn’t matter.
Focus can take place when you are washing a child’s hair and you focus on how lovely their hair is, rather than them squirming.
Focus can be found in appreciating the roof that is keeping you all dry, rather than feeling stuck indoors.
Focus can be found in noticing a rant of complaints building in your mind and CHOOSING, to sing a funny song, or dance/shake it out.
We’re being called to claim our hearts and minds and to focus on how we want to feel.
But that isn’t a call that takes time. Just focus.
Oh, I know. This isn’t actually that easy. This is often going against patterns and habits that have been being practiced for YEARS.
There’s a couple of things that help:

• Turn off the news and don’t check up on it. I can’t really think of any benefits to knowing daily updates. Google if you need to know if there’s been any changes before you go out.
• Put a couple of small steps in practice. Wake up and say good morning to your spiritual Source. Write Appreciations down each evening.
• Log out of your social media sites or simply put links to specific groups/pages on your homescreen rather than scrolling.
• Make a to-do list, a schedule of what you need to/want to get done. Only focus on one thing at a time.

Focus and Deciding what to focus on goes hand in hand.
This isn’t about taking up new hobbies, new careers or languages.
Now is the time to simply take a few breaths and focus.
Because that’s how you become the change you want to see in your life.