Paying Attention to Attention

William James, the famous philosopher and psychologist, once said, “Our life experience will equal what we pay attention to, whether by choice or by default.” Even though that quote is roughly a century-and-a-half-old, do you think those words could have ever been more pertinent than they are today?

Between social media, 24/7 “news” channels, live streaming anything and everything, never ending emails and constant bombardment by beeps, dings and alerts from our smartphones, our attention is in a constant state of being hi-jacked. We must constantly fight to keep our focus from being diverted by trivial, meaningless and even destructive interruptions.

What is more, in the hyper-sensitive and sensationalized world we live in, when our attention is kidnapped by the latest headline, health mandate, political scandal, it can be difficult to disengage without losing precious time and peace of mind.

If our life experience truly does equal what we pay attention to, that is a terrifying truth for many of us. Doom and gloom for some. Tiktok and reality TV for others. Social media black holes. Negative and fear-mongering news stories. Our minds are under constant attack. We must pay attention to what we pay attention to.

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