Choosing Our Good

Reflection by Rev. Durrell Watkins

“See your world as a sort of well-stocked kitchen where every possible ingredient that has ever been…exists in an abundant, never-ending quantity; and see yourself as the chef, soliciting forth from the shelves of your kitchen whatever…you desire, and you are mixing it all together for the creation of your cake, which currently pleases you.” – Abraham-Hicks

My junior high band director was a bit of a screamer. He would screw up his face and yell at people to work harder or to perform better or to stop misbehaving. If the yelling seemed to upset a student, he would then offer some comfort. He would say, “Yelling is just yelling. It only lasts for a second and then its over. Don’t let it shake you up so much.” He was teaching us that we have some control over how we feel, and as we exercise that control, we actually influence what we experience.

The same animated teacher would offer private coaching before musical contests. When a student would make a mistake, sometimes a flurry of other mistakes would follow. Our band director would say, “If you make a mistake, put it out of your mind and keep going. If you focus on the mistake, you’ll make another one. Focus on what you want to do well rather than on the previous mistake.” He was teaching us that our focus determines, at least to some extent, what we will accomplish. Focusing on error attracts more error. It’s better to focus on the desired result than on the past failure. What we focus on tends to show up more.

I didn’t realize that taking an elective music credit in junior high school was actually introducing me to the Law of Attraction; but the lessons that were offered to me in the 7th and 8th grades remain with me still, and in fact seem clearer to me now. We are in charge of where we place our focus. And what we focus on is bound to show up in some way at some time.

This Christmas, let’s give ourselves the gift of positive focus. Let’s think about things that bring hope, joy, and fulfillment. Thoughts that bring regret, sadness, or discontent can be replaced with more positive, hopeful thoughts. The thoughts will produce corresponding feelings, and how we feel is how we’ll experience life. There are all kinds of ingredients in our mental cupboards, but we are the chefs and we choose which ingredients to use. Let’s choose the ones that will make our life a glorious feast. Happy Holidays!