Spending Attention - Article

[Editor]

We are, in general, very attentive to where we are spending our money. However, we hardly think about how we are spending our attention. A newspaper article on similar thought left me pondering over the issue.

We invest a lot of hard work, time and energy to earn money. Both men and women who set out to earn in this competitive world have to face a new challenge everyday. Though men supposedly have the primary responsibility to be the bread earner for the family, women are also shouldering this responsibility and managing both their careers and their families with equal ease. In doing that, they might have to transform into a superwoman, but that is another point of discussion altogether. Here the focus is that when people earn money they are very particular to keep a tab on the expenditure and make sure that they get value for money. Reasonably thinking, it is the most logical thing to do. But there is a catch. According to famous author Allen Cohen, “In the long run, how you spend your attention affects your life far more profoundly than how you spend your money.” To back this up, he also points out that the entire game of life is about making the best use of your energy. I completely agree with his viewpoint. I believe that even a bit of awareness about where you are investing your attention while doing daily chores will help towards conserving our precious life force.

The Hindu culture has emphasized on the virtues of meditation. Meditation has different forms and is the in-thing these days even in the west. In simpler terms, meditation is a process of relaxing and rejuvenating our mind, body, and soul. The attention aspect is very critical here as the main focus is on the breath. Thus, after a hectic day, meditating for a while can help reliving stress and have profound effects in the long run. But it is easier said than done. Even if we are not into meditation, what we do to relax, where we spend our attention after a hectic day might affect our well being to a certain extent. So, just to cite an example, whether u want to cool off by watching accidents on a reality TV show or listen to some soulful music, its all up to you. Thus it might be worth to give this equal attention as you would give while purchasing something. The fact remains that the emphasis should be to conserve the vital life force and not let it squander away in unmindful activities. What is your gutfeel?

[Urbanangel]

My gutfeel would be that people are not even aware of where they are spending their attention. They may not even noticing the flaws in their lifestyle or daily activities.

Could be a reason that people's mind goes dumb after daily stress and they just do not want to let their mind pay attention to anything. That could be the reason they indulge in non value add attention seeking activities.

[Aditi77_k]

Hi everyone,

After reading the article i can only say that our aim shud be to bring more awareness in our lifestyle. The focus shud be every minute during the day and not only a specific time. This will not let the stress build up.

But it is easier said than done. What u say?

[anshulseth]

Hi ppl,

There are several reasons for not spending time or attention fruitfully.
First of all, we have limitations in the sense that we have to fulfill certain responsibilities, at workplace or home etc. , which we are bound to do.

Another reason, as said by some is the stress factor which is borne out of the first reason, which debilitates us to an extent that we go into a comatose situation, where our mind just switches off.

Another reason I feel is that in today's world, there is a lack of self- awareness, which is widely prevalent. We don't know our likes, dislikes, our inclinations etc. This way we never harness those skills or bent of mind in us in a constructive manner. Time flies when we love doing a thing, and we never regret that spent time.

So, there is a need for ppl 2 introspect, to stop the rat race that starts in the morning and ends on the bed in the night. We shud try not to live such a mechanical life and use our cognizance to step back and think abt wht v r doing in life.

Asset

[Dan]

I was browsing through the previous discussions as i have joined recently and came across this one which instantly gained my attention.

In the daily grind of our life, do we ever stop to see where are we actually spending our attention. I feel we all function like forever busy robots, doing one activity after another. Sometimes, when i wake up in the morning i do find myself on an auto-pilot mode doing the same daily chores one after the other. We should however take time to think, be alone with ourselves and ask us where do we really want to go and where is the life taking us. Are we spending our resources in the right direction or just killing time