Focus and listen

I am happy with my blogging progress. I could add Site Meter, and Cbox to my blog. And I changed the settings to allow all readers to send comments. I hope it works! Today was a traveling day for me. I flew home to Manila from Jakarta. When traveling, I observe things I would not normally see. If I am awake and aware, that is. I changed planes in Singapore’s Changi airport, and browsed in two shops. In both shops, the attendants were keenly focused on helping me to make a choice.

From observing them, I learned how important, and how possible it is to concentrate on a task, on doing it in the Now. Not to allow distractions, and make sure to complete the task as best as possible. In neither case, by the way, did I buy what they offered. I was considering to buy a nice office bag in the second shop, black leather with spacious compartments for just about everything, including my notebook computer. The sales attendant did a good job in recommending me to buy it. She can be proud of how she did it, even though it did not lead to a sale.

For me, I try not to rush into buying things these days. I observe what wants to be bought by me. It is a new experience, and it is enjoyable. I see a lot of things that I could buy, but I also realize I already have so much. My need is actually not great. So I have come to practice “listening” to the product, or to my intuition about it. If I really need it and it’s the right thing for me to buy it, my intuition will tell me so. In today's case, I enjoyed watching the items and examining them, but I was not convinced they were the right ones to buy, so I did not.

Being born under the Pisces sign, you could say that I am probably indecisive. And you would be right. Making decisions is not my strong point. I always see so many sides to a question, so many choices, and my feelings are important to me in reaching a conclusion. That is why I welcome all the help I can get to improve my decision-making. A few days ago I bought a book Eat that Frog! by Brian Tracy, with 21 Great Ways to Stop Procrastinating and Get More Done in Less Time. For me, decision-making and procrastination are linked. I consider myself a champion procrastinator, and I am not happy with that. Now I committed myself to read this book, and to do what it says (more about this later).

I also realized that the greatest supporter and resource to help me make more and better decisions is Me. There is a voice in me that can guide me. My Inner Voice (IV), my intuition. I find it a very rewarding experience to listen to my IV. And today it told me not to buy what I was looking at, to just enjoy browsing it, and keep the option open for later. It was the right thing to do.

Listening to my IV is like paying close attention to myself. I could see the example of the sales attendant apply to myself in this way. It is good to focus on myself more, and to listen to my intuition, my IV. Not to respond to so many distractions, but to pay more attention to what is really important for me. To give it undivided attention. I wrote about this in my journal, which I do in long hand, with my beautiful burgundy Mont Blanc pen.

I love writing, both in the computer, as well as in long hand. Both have their attractions. Typing on my keyboard is fast, and allows lots of editing. On the other hand, writing in long hand gives me the sensation of flow, of the need to get it right in one go, of physical contact with the paper, and of the use of a beautiful writing instrument. Not for nothing is this pen called Meisterstűck (masterpiece).

Photograph: my journal and pen.