Last year my family and I watched the cartoon series Avatar: The Last Airbender on Netflix together. I have watched little television in the last 20 years or so and yet I found myself asking daily if we could watch an episode together. I thought it was wonderful. The powerful and timeless life lessons for kids and adults alike are taught with humor and a gentle hand on the pulse of pop culture.
I have been discussing with my children how it is possible to create one's own reality with the power of attention, so I was especially grateful for a particular episode that provided a perfect example of this. Though there is controversy and hype over The New Thought Movement, Law of Attraction, and the like, I find the philosophy refreshingly simple and clear-sighted. Check out the following example of how easy it is to create exactly what we DON'T want:
Aang is the airbending Avatar whose destiny is to restore balance to the world since the Fire Nation waged war on all other nations. As you can imagine, it is a tremendous amount of pressure, especially since he is only 12 years old. His entire tribe has been wiped-out by the Fire Nation and now he is traveling with his two young friends from the Water Tribe, Katara and Sokka. Before saving the world, Aang must master control of the four elements: earth, air, fire, and water. His friends are helping him find masters who can teach him.
At one point in their journey, Sokka and Katara run into a friend from their tribe who knows where their father is. They haven't seen their dad in two years and their mother was killed when their village was attacked by the Fire Nation. Seeing how excited Sokka and Katara are to hear about their father, Aang assumes they are going to abandon him and the mission in order to find him. He angrily leaves the tent where they are talking without anyone noticing. Sokka and Katara then explain to their friend that as much as they want to see their dad, they are committed to helping Aang first.
Outside, Aang intercepts a messenger with the map to where Katara and Sokka's father is. Still afraid they will leave him, Aang decides to withhold the map instead of giving it to his friends. Full of guilt, Aang eventually confesses the truth to his friends, who are so angry with him, they decide to leave him in search of their father.
Katara and Sokka never had any intention of leaving Aang, and yet his fearful focusing on the negative, created exactly that outcome. We got to watch the whole thing unfold and it wasn't woo-woo, groovy, or pseudoscientific. It just was what it was.
Thoughts give rise to actions which have consequences. It's as simple as that.
We have all experienced this kind of thing unfold in our lives, whether we have taken notice of it or not. When we see the role that we play in creating the very things we wish to avoid, it can be a fascinating tool for growth.
I have noticed in my own life, that there is a fine line between seeing the glass half-full versus seeing it half-empty. I have to focus MUCH more heavily on the positive to create that outcome. Half and half doesn't cut it, because then when I am off-kilter i.e. hungry, tired, injured, sick, etc., it is much easier to see the negative. The result, of course, is that that is what I get and then I feel even worse. Ugh. Much easier to prevent the downward spiral than to get off of it once I am on.
There are a bunch of things we don't care for in this world. There are a bunch of things we adore. There is dark. There is light. We get to choose where we put our attention. This is a blessed thing.
Thanks for reading! Have a beautiful day.
Love,
Courtney
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