ROBERT J.R. GRAHAM: Success, Happiness and Wasting Your Energy

by: Willie Horton

Today is a new day – one that has never happened before, a unique day that will never be repeated. Now is a new moment. And, in this new moment, you have a choice. You have a choice – which thoughts you are you going to pay attention to just at this moment in time? The probability is that they are random thoughts – whatever nonsense has just popped into your head. And, as psychology proves, those random thoughts are more likely to be negative than positive. Have the thoughts that are currently rattling around your head got anything to do with what you’re actually supposed to be doing at this moment in time? And even if they are positive thoughts (better than negative ones obviously) – like looking forward to something or, perhaps the bizarre practice of trying to think positively when everything around you suggests otherwise – even positive thought are just thoughts. And the thoughts that you’re entertaining just now are stopping you doing. Don’t waste your energy on thinking, discard your thoughts, leaving room for the flights of fancy to rise to the top – for they are not thoughts, but inspiration.

In this new moment, you also have a choice with regard to your behaviour and actions (although what you do is more likely to be reaction than real action). Think for a moment about your behaviour and actions so far today. How much time have you literally thrown away already today? On sitting in front of your PC’s screen staring blankly? On gossiping about the misfortune or misdeeds of others? On shuffling you’re “To Do” list until there’s no time left to do!? On doing things you simply should not be doing – like browsing the internet for things that have nothing to do with anything important, reading emails that were cc’d to you so someone else’s backside would be covered, reading the sordid details of domestic violence that pad out our daily newspapers? How much time have you wasted on wishing you were somewhere else or doing something else? Of course, the things that I’ve just listed are things that, when you reflect upon it, you might be aware of. But, sadly, there’s a whole subconscious world going on within you that you’re not aware of at all – and the bad news is that your subconscious mind is nowhere near focused on what’s actually going on in the here and now. Add it all up and you’ve probably spent very little of your time today on doing what you’re supposed to be doing in the here and now – the only place where you can actually, successfully and happily live your life.

Every moment you waste is a moment you will never have again. And what we achieve in life is the sum total of how we spend every single one of our individual moments. Or, put another way, you are where you are in your life right now as a result of every single choice that you’ve made, moment to moment, throughout your adult life. There are two big problems with this. First of all, you’ve probably never thought of things from this perspective before – otherwise you might have made different choices, even little ones differently. Secondly, your choices are generally made for you – by your seriously out of touch subconscious mind. In other words, you’ve wasted God knows how much energy and you don’t even know.

Unless your subconscious mind is engrossed in meaningful activity in the present moment, it is merrily living in your childhood years, thinking that it’s happening now. No harm no foul you might think – but you’d be wrong because your childhood years are the basis for every single thing you think and do now in your adult life. So this subconscious waste of energy means that you simply can never fully do what you’re supposed to be doing (no wonder you haven’t experienced effortless success!) and you’re simply missing all the possible opportunities that are actually all around you.

So, stop whatever you’re half-heartedly doing or supposed to be doing for a moment. Ask yourself ‘What am I actually doing now?’ Ask yourself ‘Has this got anything to do with what I’m supposed to be doing?’ – or an even bigger question ‘Has what I’m doing now got anything at all to do with all the wonderful things that I really want out of life?’ Take stock. Don’t waste your precious energy because the energy that you put into life is the energy that you get out. Your success and happiness depends on being focused on the here and now – on paying attention to what you’re actually doing (even if you don’t like what you’re doing – because not liking is just a useless thought). Your life depends on whether you’re present here and now. So sit up straight and pay attention!

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