Your Attention Shapes Your Life
Epictetus famously said, “You become what you give your attention to.” His statement seems to carry even more weight today given the constant bombardment of attention getting tools the world has at its disposal.
If it seems your attention has been commoditized, you may be right. So how do we regain presence in a world aimed at grabbing our attention in a variety of ways? Mindfulness. It becomes a spiritual practice to train your attention on what you value in your life. This isn’t to say that you have to give up scrolling on your phone, but you can be mindful about how long you do it, when you do it, and the content you expose yourself to.
I used to find myself playing games on my phone while I ate breakfast. I would mindlessly shovel food in my mouth while I labored over solving the days puzzles. I didn’t taste my food, in fact, I couldn’t even tell you what I ate. When I looked up from my phone, I was aware how heavy my head felt and that I had no awareness of what was going on around me. Life was literally passing me by.
Once I added mindfulness to my mornings, I no longer had my phone near me when I ate. I wanted eating to be a sacred practice, a communion between me and the gifts of nature in the bowl in front of me. The first 2-3 days I found myself craving the distraction that my phone offered, yet in sitting with the resistance I felt in my body, I realized it dissipated rather quickly if I didn’t give into the urge to pick up my phone. I told myself that I didn’t want to give my time to something that didn’t feed my soul. When the desire for distraction faded, I found gratitude for the plants that filled my bowl and how they would nourish and heal me.
After a few days of this practice, I noticed that I didn’t even miss playing the games. The day had passed and the games had still gone untouched on my phone. My head felt lighter, no longer weighed down by the energy of the illuminated screen. My body felt freer for being present to the start of my day.
This isn’t to say that we can’t play games on our phone, rather we can be mindful about how and when we do so. We can bring this mindfulness to any activity during our day whether it be washing dishes, folding laundry, or driving.
Epictetus was right, we do become what we give our attention to. Perhaps it’s time to perform a “spiritual audit” of our attention takers and send the energy draining, time-suckers packing and give ourselves the gift of time with what is most precious in our lives — the present moment.