What you focus on determines your reality because your mind becomes active in acquiring and bringing into your reality the things that you focus on.

You bring into your experience what you focus on.

If you focus on lack, limitation, negativity, and scarcity, then that is what you bring into your experience.

If you focus on abundance, expansion, positive things, and plenty, then that is what you bring into your experience.

A moment of introspection will make this obvious.

Why, then, if it is that easy to switch our reality, from one of suffering to one of joyful experience, do we persist in injuring ourselves?

It is because we are not in charge of our minds. Rather our minds are in charge of us. We, a conscious being, are dominated by our conditioning.

This is why the practice of meditation is important.

Every time we meditate, we dissolve more and more conditioning. We get off autopilot and take over the path our ship is cruising on.

As we let go of more and more of our reflexive thinking, we start to take charge of our own minds, and our reality, slowly, creakingly, turns around for us.

Of course, this is not easy.

Yet, its not much fun living a scattered and chaotic life either.

Until our awareness comes to the surface, we cant really expect to improve our health, boost our finances, or be able to calm the storms of a relationship. Our dreams are always one step ahead of us, lost in the mist of someday I will

The path is simple. Learn a method of meditation and practice it.

The path is also difficult. You have to learn and you have to practice.

The reward, however, is immense. Increased self-awareness, increased control of your mind, and increased appreciation and meaning of your own self and life.

In many religious traditions, we are often said to be asleep.

What exactly does this mean?

It means that we are almost wholly unconscious. We think and act in ways that are not in our best interests.

A conscious person is an aware person and awareness is something that comes when we release the subconscious programs that run our lives.

A brief review of yesterday will show you how your notion of self-control and inner mastery is pretty much an illusion.

If meditation is not your thing, then try contemplation, sitting in silence, quietly reflecting on who you are and what it is that is important to you.

A daily routine where you work on raising your awareness will do you a world of good. It will, in fact, change your world, placing you in one more favorable to your interests.