The Tribune

One thing that I know for sure is that life moves according to the focus of our emotional attention.

This is important because there are some irrefutable universal laws that govern our very existence.

Chief amongst them is the Law of Attraction, which essentially affirms that we get what we focus on, whether we want it or not. The key word here is focus.

Your point of focus is, in fact, your point of attraction and thus, your point of power. Whilst this may be a bit of a deeper dive for some of you, the laws of the universe are always in effect. Failing to accept these universal laws does not change the universe, it only changes the way you interact with the universe.

It seems to me that we have far greater chance of winning the game of life if we understood the universal laws or rules that governs the game. This is especially true when it comes to deciding where you place your emotional attention.

We all know the phrase ‘Pay Attention’. We pay the price of moving through life with our emotional attention. Your emotional attention has activating power. This means that when you invest your attention towards any particular thing - that thing multiplies, expands and draws itself towards you. Like it or not, this is the immutable law of life.

For this reason, you must pay attention to what you are paying attention to; being very clear about what you are marching for. Marching for what you want in your life draws or attracts what you want. Similarly, marching against what you do not want attracts or draws more of what you do not want.

The universe does not discriminate. It takes cues from you and responds to your most emotive point of focus. For example, let’s say you take up your placard and marched with outrage against poverty. Presumably all of your emotional currency will still be directed towards poverty. Your outrage against it keeps it at the centrepoint of your attention, thus serving only to ensure that poverty not only remains but expands.

If you desire to reduce poverty, your emotional point of focus must be directed towards that which is opposite poverty - ‘wealth’. Thinking and feeling outrage against poverty will not somehow transform and produce wealth. Wealth has to become your emotional focal point before it can be drawn towards you. Moreover, wealth has to become the focused thought of those who are experiencing poverty.

Even so, people are more comfortable marching against what they don’t want. Despite dismal results, this is still the gold standard. Take a look through history and notice that for the most part, the waging war against things like crime, cigarettes, drugs etc, has not necessarily stopped the growth of these vices. In many ways, these issues have remained consistent.

The universe does not determine what you may call ‘right’ or ‘wrong’, ‘good’ or ‘bad’. It acts only according to the focus of your emotional attention. This means that you have the power to direct your attention towards what you want rather than what you don’t want. No doubt, this is a challenge for many.

So, burdened by their emotions of anger and frustration, they are more motivated to march against what they don’t want; unknowingly only making it stronger. You must work to focus your attention towards only what you really want.

This concept is not as farfetched as it may seem. There’s a saying that during the war in Vietnam, some protestors asked Mother Teresa if she would join them in their march against the Vietnam War. She politely said “No - but if you have a ‘march for peace’ I’ll be there”.

Mother Teresa clearly understood that there was more power in placing her emotional attention towards marching for what she wanted - peace - than against what she didn’t want.

Leader to leader - consider what it is that you are marching for. Make the decision to focus your emotional attention towards what you want for your life.

Remember, you are the managing director of your emotional account. You get to decide how your emotional currency will be invested.

By marching for your opportunities and not against your obstacles, you unleash an optimistic, potent formula for living an empowered life. Yes, you can do it.

• Michelle M Miller is a certified Life Coach and Communications/Leadership Expert. Questions or comments can be emailed to coaching242@yahoo.com, or telephone 429-6770, or visit www.talktomichellemmiller.com or snail mail to PO Box CB-13060