What are you collecting?

One of the things that really gets in the way of our enjoyment of life is the way we collect evidence. 

Think about how selective your awareness becomes when you are looking to buy a new car or a particular pair of sports shoes, and suddenly you notice them everywhere? That's the kind of evidence collection I mean. 

When all our efforts go in to proving that life is a nightmare, hard, full of potholes and challenges, deeply disappointing and will-always-be-that-way, we come away with an experience that says "life is hard/horrrible/sad/difficult/a struggle". We have found the evidence to prove to ourselves that what we believe is irrefutable, true and unchangeable. And we continue to notice evidence in support of that proof for as long as we focus on searching for it.

This is the behaviour of the "negative evidence collector". 

Those who find life joyful are aware of and focusing upon collecting evidence to prove that there is something to feel joyful about. They consciously direct their attention towards proving their beliefs: life is a gift; people help others; there are things to be happy about; while there are challenges in living the human experience, those challenges don't last forever. 

If you have ever wondered why you seem to experience life so differently from those around you who seem to cope with perspective, balance and the ability to bounce back, then this might be the simple difference - a difference of what you are paying attention to and collecting as evidence to support your beliefs. 

Like with the car or shoes you want to buy, when you know what you are looking for you find it everywhere. 

If your life experience is not the one you want to be having, check in and see what you are actively collecting as evidence. 

If you bag is full of negative experiences, you are setting yourself up. 

The cool thing is that there are as many positive, joyful, connected experiences out there for the having as there are terrifying, disconnected ones. 

You get to choose whether you collect awful or awesome evidence. 

Which one are you collecting?

Sarah xx