Stillness is the answer – you feel what you focus on

Big day for me today; I went to collect my first ever varifocal spectacles. Life was getting very complicated. I had nine pairs (yes, nine) of prescription glasses, including reading glasses strategically placed in my home, my mother’s home and several handbags, driving glasses, spare driving glasses and prescription sunglasses. There was a lot of organisation making sure they were all in the right place! Plus I was starting to suspect that wearing my distance glasses only for driving was preventing me from seeing how grubby my house is. So I made the decision, got my eyes tested and ordered the specs.

I was using the supermarket optician so, once they had been checked, polished and handed over, the guy suggested I keep them on to go and do my shopping for ‘practice.’ I knew it might feel funny but I wasn’t prepared for the gentleman driving his trolley straight at me from my left. I nearly fell into his trolley! I then found that, as long as I didn’t dart my gaze around too much and too quickly looking for all the things I needed, it wasn’t too difficult at all. In fact, being able to read labels without having to dig my reading glasses out of my bag made a difference straight away.

Now I’ve been moving around the house, hanging washing out and using the computer, I do feel a little queasy but am determined to persevere. I’m grateful that bigger frames are now fashionable so it’s easy to fit the required lenses in.

This experience has reminded me of the phrase we use a lot in Mind Calm, ‘you feel what you focus on.’ Sandy Newbigging is always reminding us of this. It follows that, if we focus on all the busy aspects of our lives, the stuff, the sound and the movement, we are likely to feel busy, stressed, perhaps even overwhelmed. But if we learn, sometimes, to focus on space, silence and stillness, we feel much calmer and more peaceful.

Today I am focusing both on and through my new glasses. But they are part of the ‘stuff’ of life and I also need to remember to take time out, both momentarily and for longer periods, to notice the peaceful space inside me, my inner calm. It’s always there but, because we feel what we focus on, I can only benefit from it when I become aware of it.

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Have a wonderfully calm day!