Download the March 2014 Mandala of the Month
The adage, “that which we focus on expands” applies to this month’s mandala.
So what are we focusing on these days? Are we singularly focused or are we scattered all over the place, looking for a place to land? Are we like cats with shiny objects? Easily distracted? Do we have a clear path of action or are we operating by default?
Are we awake or are we asleep?
Being Awake
Merriam-Webster Dictionary defines consciousness as:
the normal state of being awake and able to understand what is happening around you
Defining “normal” is a whole blog post in and of itself. For our purposes, let’s define “normal” as something occurring naturally.
How often are we aware of what’s going on around us? While driving a car, are we already preparing to interact with someone before we even arrive? Do we notice the other cars around us, people walking along the sidewalk, the status of the sky, the colors of buildings, etc? How often do we arrive at our destination being totally clueless about what happened along the way?
How often are we aware of what’s going on inside of us? What’s our breathing pattern like? What’s the status of our muscles? Tense? Relaxed? How about our thoughts? Are they scattered or clearly focused? What’s going on emotionally?
So why should we care about the state of our consciousness?
The only time we can take action is in the present moment.
Do we want to do this asleep or awake? When we operate in default mode, we keep doing what we always do…missing opportunities to question if that’s the best thing to do in that moment, missing opportunities to change our minds.
Think of it as what a plane does while flying in auto-pilot mode. It continuously compares its current status with its destination. When it goes a bit off course, the auto-pilot does a course correction, keeping the plane fulling in line with its destination.
The more we operate in an unconscious state, the further away we are from living our lives to the fullest.
The more we operate in a conscious state, the more opportunities we have for course corrections.
What’s Our Focus
Once we awaken, what’s our focus? Do we focus on that which best serves us or that which holds us back?
- If we focus on our fears, we promote a life of fear
- If we focus on our failures, we promote a life of failure
- If we focus on what’s lacking in our lives, we promote a life of lack
Change our focus…Change our life
By making course corrections, we can decide to change our live our lives for the better.
- Instead of focusing on being stuck, see it as an opportunity to review our current circumstances and opening up to possibilities ‘outside the box’
- Instead of focusing on feeling overwhelmed, focus on what actually has to be done right now to move forward, how ever small a step it may be
- Instead of focusing on feeling lost or confused, take stock of what it is we really want for our lives and take some action regardless of how small (mind mapping is a great tool that can help with this).
- Instead of focusing on how impossible it may seem to accomplish our dreams, create a path of baby steps that are variations on the dream…creating opportunities that continuously lead us to our goal.
- Instead of focusing on our failures, see them as experiments where we learned how to do things differently next time. An interesting exercise would be to note our “failures” and next to each one, note what we learned/gained from it.
Wake up and smell the roses…
And if a thorn stabs us in the process, we’ll know better next time where to grab the stem!
Ponder this as we color the March 2014 Mandala of the Month.
Happy Coloring!
joyfully, Maureen,
The Mandala lady
www.facebook.com/TheMandalaLady
Be sure to download Section 3 of the 2014 Mandala of the Year.
Mandala of the Month 
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