There are a few different types of focus that continue to resurface on a daily basis for me.

Long-term Focus and Short-term Focus. Either one can become a challenge as life happens throughout the day and fires break out in one area or another. We can too often find ourselves dealing with these issues one after the other and before we know it, we have run out of time and unable to put an effort towards what we set out to do at the beginning of the day.

Other times, we can get caught up in accomplishing a project and wonder how this fits into the big picture of where we’re going. I am guilty of this quite often.

What I have found helps me stay on track is writing down on a weekly basis, what is important to me at the time. Not often enough, do I sit down and write out long-term objectives, goals and accomplishments I intend to attract into my life through a concerted effort.

This is where I tend to lose my focus the most; in the long-term.

I never regret the times I do sit down and go through my goals – whether that be 3-6 months, 1-3 years or 5+ years out. And more times than not, I attract what I put my focus on without having a concrete plan at the time of how to accomplish it.

This is what inevitably always brings me back to do it again. It is always worth my time in the end. And I can use it as a map for myself to make sure I stay on the trail of focus and not stray off into the forest.

No doubt, this is a challenge for me, but it is something I face on a regular basis.

We can find ourselves denying the mess exists. That’s procrastination and will not resolve any issues. Ignoring it may even exacerbate the problem.

It may be difficult to embrace the current situation – as bad as it may be – but there is no way to move beyond it without acceptance. We must acknowledge there is something that needs to change.

Once we admit there must be change, we can transcend the unwanted result and move into a suitable solution. This may sound simplistic, however many of us can go for long periods of time in denial about the results we have been receiving unaware of how to change them.

As the season of Thanksgiving rolls around once again, I feel urged to ask the question, “Can we ever have enough gratitude?”

I’m betting on no. When we enter a state of gratitude our focus changes from the self to more of an objective point of view. You have a sense of pulling back the zoom on your life and considering the big picture. We are often way too caught up in our own stories to consider anyone else’s.

Feeling a sense of gratitude gives you a perspective you wouldn’t otherwise have. For me, it also simplifies my life. It distills it down to what’s really important to me. Being on death’s doorstep will do that to you, but why wait for that to happen when you can manufacturer those feelings and gain that perspective just by being grateful.

Gratitude is an attitude and attitudes become a way you live your life. You might want to pick a good one.

There is a book called, “Power Vs. Force” written by David R. Hawkins, M.D., Ph.D. in which he “generated a practical map of the energy fields of consciousness so as to delineate the range and general geography of an uncharted area of human investigation.” Another words, he found a way to calibrate human consciousness and emotions via an energy field and determined a numeric value for it.

What he found was that emotions such as Guilt and Shame register lowest on the scale at 30 and 20 respectively, and Enlightenment, Peace and Joy were are the top of the Map of Consciousness at 700-1000, 600 and 540 respectively.

Hawkins also discovered that people who calibrate at higher levels counterbalances people who register at much lower levels on the scale. As Love is much more powerful than Shame, there only need be a few people who calibrate at extremely high levels to nullify millions of people at very low energy.

We all have a choice of where we want to calibrate throughout the day. Why not come from a place where we register high on the scale of energy and nullify as much low energy as we can while coming from a place of Love. Or more.

There is much that can be said for saying “yes” to the universe. “Should I start writing that novel?” “Is it a good idea to register for the half-marathon race coming up in the spring?” “Should I bring my camera with me on my hike?” “I wonder if sending a card over to a friend to let them know I’m thinking about them is a good idea?” Yes. Absolutely. Why not? And you better believe it.

We cannot show up, gain experience, get the results we don’t want and then start the process all over again by saying “no.” We must engage in the world. The idea. The art project. The race. The relationship, in order to grow, learn and evolve.

However, speaking up and saying “no” can be just as powerful when used at the appropriate time. When drawings your boundaries, taking care of the self, respecting and caring for others, when something goes against your core beliefs, when you know the choice you’re about to make is a strong one. These are just a few.

It’s not a matter of being negative. It’s about being clear and decisive with your intentions. After all, we can always use more functioning, loving, caring, decisive, motivated, healthy and open people in this world.