Forgiveness + Repentance = Freedom and Change. I know that to some repentance might seem like a four letter word but it’s actually a ten letter word. To repent is to change the way you think. To change the way you think you need to become aware of why you are doing what you are doing. When you understand the “why” you have the ability to change it. But if you don’t know why you do what you do, you become stuck in a cycle of thinking, feeling and acting that you feel powerless to overcome. So let’s look at how a cycle works so we can learn how to become aware when we are in one and how to get out of it.
A cycle is a series of events that are regularly repeated in the same order. There is a trigger that sets the cycle into effect and when it does all your attention and focus are given to the cycle until you crash and burn or break out of it.
In the movie “The Boss Baby” there is a scene where a boy is riding his bike and he sees a tree near his path. The tree is not on his path it’s near his path. In the past when there was a tree near his path he ran into it. The pain and fear of his past experience of feeling powerless to the gravitational pull of the tree causes him to give all his attention to the tree he sees in the present. As he gives his attention and focus to the tree he actually lines the handlebars of his bike dead center to the tree. He feels powerless to the gravitational pull of the tree, yet what he is unaware of is that there is no gravitational pull of the tree.
Our focus and attention is our aim and the object of our focus is our target. Meaning whatever we continually focus on is where we end up. Our intentions don’t matter. The kid has no desire to run into the tree, but because it’s what he is focused on it’s what he is about to run into. Before the kid reaches the tree he gets this good advice, “Aim for failure and you will always succeed. Aim away from failure.” The kid looks to an open spot on the path and as he focuses so goes his aim, and he misses the tree.
The fear of failure causes us to focus on the very things we don’t want to do or have happen. The more we focus on the things we don’t want to do the more we can find ourselves wanting to do the things we don’t want to do. The trap of the cycle is continuing to focus on the things we don’t want. What do you actually want? Where do you want to go? What do you want to become? Focus on where you want to go with consistency and persistence and you will find yourself where you want to be.
If you find yourself in the cycle, or better yet if you find yourself about to enter into the cycle, stop! Change what you are thinking about. Get out of your head. Get out of your house. Change your focus. When you can see where the path will take you, you can choose if you want to travel it. Remember there is no gravitational pull.