Focus Your Happiness Lens

“Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things.” Philippians 4:8

I have written before about happiness being a choice, and I am going to expand on that idea with this post. The quote above is St. Paul encouraging all of us to look for the good.

We can choose what to focus on, and that is mindfulness. At any given time, we are choosing to focus on specific elements in our lives while ignoring others. Our brains cannot take in everything in our environment at once, so as we look around, we are focusing on a select number of stimuli.

Don’t believe me? Look around the room where you are sitting and note all of the items that are brown. After a minute or so, close your eyes and recall all of the items in the room that are blue.

See?

That is how it goes with our thoughts as well. Either we are on autopilot, just taking in whatever we are attracted to at the moment, or we consciously focus on what will bring us joy.

Here is an assignment.

This is something I have been doing over the years, but I didn’t realize how powerful it could be until I made it intentional. Since I began taking pictures, I have been drawn to photographing flowers. I began with roses, but now I snap a picture of any flower that I find beautiful. The convenience of the camera phone helps.

The assignment is to take pictures of anything that is beautiful, makes you smile, gives you joy, makes you laugh, lights you up, or is something or someone that you love. Post these pictures to Instagram, Pinterest, or Facebook or all three! Share what you find beautiful with the rest of us. Tell us your love story in pictures.

Using our camera lens as practice in focusing our attention on what Paul encourages us to find in the world, is a way to increase our own happiness and to share that happiness with others. Where the eye goes the mind will follow.

Share your pictures with me on Instagram or Facebook. I would love to see them!

Photo by Jayden Huang on Unsplash