Your brain ignores your nose

Did you know that your brain sends a message to your eyes to basically ignore your nose, even though your eyes can see it at all times? (And you just totally became aware of your nose right now, didn’t you? I told you! Cool, huh?)

The reason your brain does this is because you don’t need to see your nose all day long. It’s pretty much the same reason you never think about your elbows, your ears, or your eyelashes, for example, even though they’re always there. And if someone asked you to touch your elbow, you could do it without looking, I’m sure. You know exactly where it is without having to see it all the time.

“What’s your point, Laura?” you may be asking.

Here’s my point:

The things that get your attention are the things you see.

This may feel like a simple and obvious truth, however I’m not talking about physical things that are right in front of you, like a closed door or another person.

I’m talking about “other” stuff.

If I am focused on the million things I have to do, what I will see in front of me are a million things to do.

If I am focused on how “little time” I have to do all of them, I will constantly be aware of the time, which will make me feel like it’s “running out” on me much more quickly than it actually is.

Conversely, if I am focused on how much peace I am able to create for myself despite all the “stuff” I have to do, what I will see is possibility and freedom from stress and from making myself sick with anxiety about how I’m going to get it all done.

When I focus on the good, the good is what I see.

And that doesn’t mean that the other stuff isn’t there. The million things to do, feeling crunched for time - those are real for me sometimes, and sometimes I do focus my sight right on them.

Then I remember that, like my nose, I don’t have to see them to know they’re there.

So next time you have that feeling…close your eyes for a few seconds. While they’re closed, ask yourself this question:

“When I open my eyes again, what will I see?”

And you, by the way, are the only person who can answer that.