What you focus on, grows.  Just like sunlight nurtures flowers as well as weeds, your awareness strengthens whatever your
choose to focus it on.  Focus on your fears and they will become terrors.  Focus on your gifts and they will multiply.   Refining your awareness improves your actions, restricts your reactions and polishes your presentations.

Someone walks in late to your presentation.  Do you stop and direct everyone’s attention on them? If so, is your intention to be welcoming and inclusive or disdainful and punitive? Your decision here depends entirely upon how you direct your awareness, and the audience will follow your direction.  If you focus on the good of the group, it is doubtful you will add to the distraction; however, if your concern is on what is good for you, you may react differently.

Reactions can help you avoid physical harm but this trait comes with a cognitive cost, thoughtlessness.  Your greatest growth opportunity lies in widening the gap between stimulus and response.  The quality of your conscious choices are deter-
mined by how much awareness you can focus into this gap.  It is natural to react with fear when facing a group; however, you can choose how to act in the face of this fear.

The dignity of choice is reserved for your actions, not your reactions.  Placing your focus on your listeners requires a conscious act. At first, it will feel unnatural because there is virtually no space between the group stimulus and your fearful response.  Your range of responses expands with the awareness of your choices.

Your mind is a fertile ground for terrible terrors and gracious gifts.  Whether you act on your gifts or react to your fears is
a matter of focus.   When you choose to shine your light on your flowers, they will grow so abundantly that there is no space for
the weeds.  Focus on growing your gifts.