Where Attention Goes, Energy Flows

Healing Rays
Where Attention Goes, Energy Flows
Rev. Dr. Durrell Watkins

“The human spirit is so great a thing…If we could understand the human mind

nothing would be impossible to us…” Paracelsus

The power of our thoughts and attitudes is no longer a subject left to the mystics among us. The fields of psychology, physics, and philosophy have all given overwhelming evidence that thoughts are energetic and where our “attention goes, energy flows.”


Whether we are focused on what we want or on what we don’t want, what we focus on we seem to attract.


People who are focused on how “difficult” it is to lose weight often find that belief validated with disappointing weigh-ins. Of course, they would like to lose weight, but their focus, even while they are dieting and exercising, is on failure and what they focus on they tend to experience (this is a lesson I’ve had to learn personally!).


The writer of the ancient drama “Job” has the protagonist of that story say, “The thing I feared has come upon me.” We now know why that is. Where attention goes, energy flows! Fear is focus, and we can actually move toward, create, or attract what we DON’T want when we keep our focus on it.


People will say, “I couldn’t find a job for over a year, and then when I got one job offer I got three!” Fear of not finding something can keep us from finding it, but once we do find something and the fear leaves us, opportunities seem to just fall from the sky!


When people are lonely and complain that they can’t get a date or that everyone they date turns out to be less than ideal, they don’t realize that desperation repels rather than attracts good companions. Focusing on “there aren’t any good ones out there” or “I can’t get a date for the love of God” actually makes it harder to meet nice and interesting people.


Even something as simple as bowling – fear of gutter balls will often result in gutter balls! But keeping your eye on the pins you want to knock down and allowing your arm to follow your gaze will result in more pins falling down. Where attention goes, energy flows. Whether you focus on your hopes or focus on your fears, the power of focus remains the same.


Now, if the power of intention/focus/visualization can help you find a parking space or a date, shed a few pounds or improve your golf or bowling game, then what else could it do?


Some people fantasize about success or achievement but never put forth the effort needed to make it come to pass. Others work very hard, but always assume that the universe is somehow conspiring against them and the best they can let themselves hope for is to just get by a little while longer. But those who combine enthusiastic, focused effort with indomitable optimism are the ones who show us time and again that obstacles can be overcome, difficulties can be turned around, and delays are not necessarily denials. In other words, right thinking combined with right action will lead to right results. That is right-eousness (right-use-ness) at its best!


If you’re feeling stuck, defeated, lonely, sad, or overwhelmed, maybe life is trying to show you that you have been focusing in directions that rob rather than add joy. Our feelings show us what our habitual thinking has been, and our thinking is something we can always change. Focus on what is good, what is desirable, or what is healing and keep your focus on that positive possibility and you will soon find that you are starting to create, attract, or move toward what you do want rather than what you don’t! Where attention goes, energy flows, so keep your focus on the good you deserve.