Use It or Lose It: The Hidden Power of Attention

In This Article

• Why "use it or lose it" applies to more than physical abilities
• How attention shapes what grows stronger in your life
• The connection between intuition and daily practice
• Why distractions can weaken what matters most
• How to rediscover neglected talents, gifts, and dreams
  
  

USE IT OR LOSE IT: The Hidden Power of Attention
by Marie T. Russell, InnerSelf.com

We often hear the expression "use it or lose it" in relation to our bodies. If we don't exercise our muscles, maintain our flexibility, or practice a skill, it gradually weakens. Yet the more I reflected on that familiar saying, the more I realized it applies to much more than physical abilities.

The principle also applies emotionally, mentally, and spiritually. Our patience, empathy, intuition, creativity, and even our ability to pay attention all grow stronger when we use them, and weaker when we neglect them.

This realization came to me as I reflected on my current vision challenges. Because I am a very introspective person, I tend to focus on the inner world rather than the outer one. I look beneath appearances, both in myself and in others. I pay attention to feelings, motivations, and energy more than to external details.

A friend recently pointed out that when she came back to see me after being away for an hour, she had changed clothes. I hadn't noticed. In fact, I couldn't even remember what she had been wearing earlier that morning. That helped me recognize just how little attention I give to external appearances. I often won't remember what someone was wearing, but I can tell you how they were feeling... or at least my perception of how they were feeling.

While there is value in looking inward, I began to see that balance is important. Perhaps my tendency to focus on the internal world had led me to neglect the external one. And just like a muscle that isn't exercised, what isn't used can gradually lose strength. Because I had been more focused on my internal vision, my external vision, not being used as much, had been losing strength and clarity. 

The View Outside My Window

Another thing that brought this to my attention is that when people come to where I'm currently living, they always comment on the amazing view because I am perched high up and can see over the city and see the ocean in the distance.

However, for me, I am less engrossed in the view than in the breeze and fresh air that blows through the windows. That is the enjoyment I get from where I'm living, more than the view. But again, this ties right in with the fact that I am not focusing on the outside world but on the inside world and the world of my feelings.

And as with everything, neither perspective is good or bad, yet balance is needed.

Practicing the Qualities We Value

So how does this apply to you? The "use it or lose it" principle also applies to attitudes and behaviors. The less we practice being kind, loving, patient, and empathic, the less natural that behavior becomes for us. It doesn't become part of our ongoing expression and experience, and eventually, we may lose it.

So it is important for us to look at ourselves and our life and see what traits, what qualities, what talents, what patterns and habits we want to encourage and continue, and make sure that we incorporate them into our daily activities and routines.

Because... if we don't use it, we'll lose it. The universe responds to and rewards what we consistently give our attention to. The qualities we nourish tend to grow stronger, while those we neglect often fade into the background.

Feeding Our Dreams and Visions

So yes, "use it or lose it" applies to physical things such as muscle strength, the ability to run long distances, or the ability to do push-ups. But it also applies to positive attitudes, dreams, and visions for our future.

We must keep our focus on those things. We must envision them. We must imagine them growing, constantly feeding them our attention and energy so that they expand rather than wither away.

Just like plants and animals need food and water, so do our hopes and our dreams and our visions.

Where Are You Placing Your Attention?

However, it is easy to become distracted by everything around us: social media, memes, YouTube videos, podcasts, the lives of others, whether they be our friends, neighbors, or celebrities.

There is a lot out there that can pull us away from focusing on our path, our vision, our goals, and our well-being. So we need to be conscious about what we put our energy, time, and focus on.

Time is precious. And unfortunately, in this age of multimedia and being connected to everyone on the planet through the internet, it is easy to get pulled away from our own path, and our own reality.

And there too, or maybe there especially, the principle of "use it or lose it" applies. If you don't use the time you have each day and each moment, you lose it. You cannot reclaim yesterday. You cannot even reclaim five minutes ago. If you didn't use it, it's gone.

Listening to and Using Intuition

Our intuition is also strongly connected to the "use it or lose it" principle. The more we listen to our inner guidance and act upon it, the more clearly we will "hear" it.

Just recently, a friend invited me to join her family for an outing. On the surface, it sounded enjoyable, yet something inside me said no. A while later, she let me know the plans had changed completely, twice.

The outcome reminded me that our intuition often senses things before our conscious mind understands them. I did not know the plan would be canceled, yet I felt I was not to participate.

Whether we call it intuition, inner guidance, gut feelings, or inner knowing, it becomes stronger when we pay attention to it. Like any ability, it grows through use. Ignore it repeatedly, and its voice becomes faint. Listen to it consistently, and it becomes one of our most valuable partners.

What Are You Strengthening?

Each day, through our attention and actions, we strengthen something. The question is: what?

Are you strengthening worry or confidence? Are you strengthening patience or irritation? Are you strengthening your dreams or your distractions?

Many of us spend considerable time feeding habits and thought patterns that do not actually serve us. We replay old grievances, focus on problems we cannot control, or devote our energy to endless streams of information that leave little room for reflection or growth.

At the same time, the qualities we say we value—compassion, creativity, joy, gratitude, intuition, and meaningful connection—may receive only a small fraction of our attention.

The "use it or lose it" principle invites us to become more conscious of where our energy is going. Whatever we repeatedly practice becomes stronger. Whatever we repeatedly neglect becomes weaker. And this is also how we can replace "bad" habits: Don't use them, and you'll eventually lose them. 

What Has Become Rusty?

Since each one of us is unique, each one of us will have a different tendency or focus. For me, I need to start paying attention more to the external. For others, I suspect the opposite is true. They need to start paying more attention to their internal aspects, whether emotional, physical, or spiritual.

When a bicycle, a car, or any other piece of mechanical construction sits unused for a long time, it becomes rusty and no longer works. So what is it in your life that you have not been using and that perhaps has gotten rusty? Is it a talent? Is it the gift of caring and empathy? Is it your connection with your intuition and inner guidance? Is it your understanding of your deeper motives and those of people around you?

Perhaps one way to get in touch with this is to pay attention to what you turn away from, or look away from. Are there things that you don't want to see, don't want to know about, don't want to think about?

My belief is that if something is in our life, it is there for a purpose. It is there to either teach us something or to encourage us to develop a gift or an attitude that has been dormant within.

Use It So You Don't Lose It

So if something feels of value, or that it could be of value, then ask yourself how you can start using it day by day, moment by moment.

Perhaps the greatest gift is that when we begin to use those neglected parts of ourselves, we start to see our world differently. Whether it is our eyesight, our physical strength, our intuition, our empathy, our dreams, or our ability to focus on what we truly desire, what we practice using will grow stronger.

And perhaps that is the deeper message of "use it or lose it." What we consistently give our attention to becomes stronger. What we neglect slowly fades from view. And this principle can be applied to things we want to let go of as well... old habits and attitudes can be "lost" as we stop using them. 

So I suggest you take a look at your life. What gifts, talents, attitudes, abilities, or dreams have been sitting unused? What parts of yourself are waiting to be put into use once again, or perhaps for the first time?

When we begin using those forgotten abilities, we not only strengthen them, but we also expand our vision of what is possible. And as our vision expands, so does our world.

About The Author

Marie T. Russell is the founder of InnerSelf Magazine (founded 1985). She also produced and hosted a weekly South Florida radio broadcast, Inner Power, from 1992-1995 which focused on themes such as self-esteem, personal empowerment, and well-being. Her articles focus on transformation and reconnecting with our own inner source of joy and creativity.

Creative Commons 3.0: This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 License. Attribute the author: Marie T. Russell, InnerSelf.com. Link back to the article: This article originally appeared on InnerSelf.com

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Article Recap

The principle of "use it or lose it" extends beyond the body into every area of life. Our attention strengthens the qualities, habits, and abilities we consistently practice, while neglected gifts gradually fade. By consciously nurturing intuition, empathy, creativity, and our dreams, we can reclaim forgotten parts of ourselves and expand what is possible in our lives.

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