Not noticing is one of the largest causes of self-imposed misery.

I was out walking this morning and I pondered the question, “What is my biggest mistake?” I was about to review all the colossal blunders I’ve made during my lifetime and pick a winner when suddenly THE GRASSHOPPER interrupted and said, “Not noticing is your biggest mistake.”

It made immediate sense.

Not noticing is willful blindness. All is there for us to see, but we just don’t pay attention. We coast through life on automatic pilot and have predictable problems sneak up on us time and again, and we just don’t notice.

Look back on just about anything that didn’t work in your favor and you can see, via hindsight, the building blocks of your avoidable misfortune. They were lined up like airplanes on a runway but we were too busy chatting it up in the airport snack shop.

Hindsight can lead to foresight when we notice the signs that were contributory, in the past, are now showing up again. Glancing in the rear view mirror will also let us know what we have to look forward to if we don’t notice.

We are so predictable; but we don’t notice. Any house thief will testify to the routines we pledge allegiance to because they spend time noticing us running them before they strike. We, like them, are experts at noticing other people’s problems - not our own. The downside to having our attention mainly on others’ foibles is we invite in trouble by not noticing the nosy neighbor calling the cops on us.

The largest impediment to not noticing is spending most of our time in our head. It’s the telltale clue that we’re about to miss something, again. Purposely getting out of your head automatically has you notice more.

So how do we get out of our head? Notice that you’re in there.

Begin to notice how absent you are from life while traveling around in your internal world. Just a glimpse of your absence, while it’s happening, makes you more present to reality.

It feeds on itself. When you notice more, you are more present and when you’re more present, you notice more.

How often have you said or heard others say, “I should have seen it coming”? It’s difficult to see what’s coming at you when you’re wearing a blindfold. Anytime you spend excessive time in your head hashing things over for the umpteenth time, you are setting yourself up for another missed opportunity to notice.

Make it a mission to start noticing your penchant to escape into your head. You’ll notice two immediate benefits:

1.       You become more present

2.       You start to see things taking shape

Additionally, presence feels better than absence, and by noticing things beginning to form, you have an opportunity to direct where they will go rather than being blindsided yet again.

There is only so much you can learn from looking backwards. That what a lot of head tripping is - looking back on what we missed. The time would be much better spent noticing what’s happening now. It’s a surefire way to stay out of trouble.

 

All the best,

John