Where we put our attention determines the quality of our life. What occupies your thoughts most of the time? Do you know where you are going with these thoughts? Or are you looking in all directions for some sign of what’s going on?

We live in a world changed by the discoveries of quantum physics, that is, by the realization that our consciousness exists before anything else can come into being. Indeed, it is our consciousness that drives our actions to manifest material reality.

Forms of Consciousness

Three forms of consciousness exist: There is our everyday alert thinking process, there is our subconscious mind, and there is the deep, ineffable consciousness that is God–All That Is embedded in and directing the vast, mysterious,  extraordinary universe of which we are a part, and beyond.

We give attention to each form in very different ways.

Choosing Awareness

You know your everyday thoughts, the ones that pull and push at you. You know how to focus on a task at hand, or how to multi-task if you need to. You know what you spend too much time doing, whether that is using electronic devices or procrastinating or dwelling on negative thoughts. You also know the times when you experience love and joy and beauty all around you and give your attention there. But have you noticed that you have chosen–always–whatever thoughts and feelings you have?

Thus, you choose your everyday conscious state of mind, every time, every moment. You also choose to keep it for a long or brief period, according to what motivates you practically, emotionally, and mentally to move forward or to stay where you are day to day.

Working with the Subconscious Mind

The subconscious mind is different. Cognitive neuroscientists have demonstrated that the subconscious mind controls 95% of our thoughts–meaning we are unaware of 95% of what is going on in us, in our minds, driving our behavior. A familiar way to describe and explain this is to ask yourself why you are doing or thinking something, anything at all. There is a quick surface answer that comes to mind, yes, but is it the whole story?

Exploring Your Own Train of Thought

Not by a long shot. Try this exercise–write down a thought you have and why you have it. Ask (and write down) why you answered the way you did. Now ask why you answered the way you did the second time and repeat the process, writing down why you answered the way you did each time. When you have no more answers, you are probably very close to knowing the true reason you had the thought in the first place–you have gone into your subconscious to find out, and in the process of doing that, you are able to see beneath the everyday camouflage to the truth. This can often cause a shift in you that changes some aspect of your life in a positive way. Here is a short example of what I mean:

Thought: I am not good enough.
Why? I have not succeeded as I had hoped.
Why? Others were chosen over me at work.
Why? My boss doesn’t like me.
Why? I don’t always do what he wants.
Why? I hate my job.
Why? It isn’t what I wanted to do.
Why? I needed money so I took it, but I wanted to be a singer.
Why? Because that is where my heart is.
Why? Because that is who I really am.

Spiritual Consciousness

The third state of consciousness is the ineffable awareness and union with God. In this state, everything is answered. It is reached sometimes in meditation, or during peak moments in life, epiphanies, wherein for a split second, or sometimes longer, we sense the absolute power of God, aware we are not separate from the Love that is God. Sometimes, if and when we are willing, we know this state. Most often it happens in Nature, or in hearing an exquisite passage from a piece of music, or watching the joyful play of a child. We know when it happens, for it feels for a moment in our heart as if we have come home.

So I would ask again–what receives your attention?