Hello and welcome to five minutes in nature with me Liz Scott.
I'm just sheltering in a gully that's a very blowy southwesterly wind and I just thought I would find a place that I could shelter.
Where I am at the moment is a dry stream bed and when it gets very wet this becomes a temporary stream that rolls off the moors.
At the moment it's not been wet enough so it's a good spot for me just to get a bit of shelter.
And today is a reflection,
Actually,
On where to put your attention.
What's really the most important thing to focus on?
And it's something that occurred to me recently.
I was listening to somebody talking about the inside-out understanding.
It's also known as the three principles.
And if you're interested in the three principles,
There is a course here on Insight Timer called The Three Principles and Introduction.
So do take a listen.
But one of the things this person was saying that really struck me,
He said that most people,
The majority of people,
When they feel unsettled,
There are kind of three steps they take to feel more settled,
And that these three steps are the wrong way around.
Let me take you through it and see if it resonates for you.
But the first step that people often take when they're unsettled is they look to try and fix the external circumstances.
That are causing their distress.
So,
For example,
Maybe you are in a relationship where someone is a bit annoying or they're not doing things the way you want to do things,
You might try and fix them,
Get them to change their behaviour.
Or maybe you feel you need to earn more money or you feel you need to get a better job or it's time to retire.
These are all the things in the outside world that you think I need to do this and then I'll feel happier.
So that's the first stage people go through.
And then the second stage often is that people begin to realise they've got unsettled thinking or they've got unhelpful thinking.
So they look to try and settle their psychology,
They look for fixes,
Tools,
Techniques,
Ways to feel more comfortable and happier in life.
And that's the second phase.
So the first phase is that you try and fix the outside world.
And then the second phase is you try and fix your own thinking,
Your own psychology.
And then the third phase is that people think,
Once I've done that,
Once I've fixed the outside world,
Once I've fixed my limiting beliefs and my bad thinking,
Negative thinking,
I'm going to then look within,
Look to a spiritual place.
And that becomes the final destination.
So,
But they need to do the other two things first.
They need to sort out their world.
They need to sort out their psychology and thinking,
And then they'll have time for a bit of spiritual inward looking reflection and the truth is that's the wrong way around.
The first place to look a hundred percent of the time is within.
I call it my inner compass,
It's my inner guidance system.
My thinking will try and distract me and get me to fix things in the outside world but actually the only place I ever need to look is within.
And as I alight upon my inner compass on that guidance system,
The wisdom,
The intuition,
The intelligence that is behind everything in life,
As I build my relationship with that,
Build my relationship with the divine,
And I stand in that space,
Then what happens is my thinking settles of its own accord.
What happens is that I come up with fresh ideas about how I might best live life and live a nourishing life.
And from a settled space,
All those things that I thought needed changing in my life,
Well,
I can see clearly what needs changing and what was just unsettled thinking and thought in the moment.
It always starts by looking within.
Always.
And looking within and finding the divine within you doesn't mean that you don't pay attention to the rest of the things in your life.
On the contrary.
When you start by looking within,
Looking to that settled wisdom within you,
When that is your starting point,
Then what you do is you move through life taking action,
But from a loving,
Grounded standpoint.
And that is why looking within,
Looking towards the Divine is the starting point.
And from that place,
Everything else works out.
Let me know your reflections on today's five minutes in nature.
And of course,
Don't forget,
I'll be back again tomorrow.
So please do join me again then.
