Rules?

I just saw something that said, "Focus on what you want."

I don't know about you, but I have heard that many times.
This time it sent me off on a tangent, and I decided to
explore it here.

The interesting thing about this statement for me is what
have heard around it.  I have heard that when you focus
on what you want, you tend to draw it to you.  At the
same time, the act of WANTING something is energy
that says that you are without it.  And, if you are in the
process of wanting, you can't be in the HAVING.

When I have worked with people, I often used the
example of looking up at a sky.  If you look one way
you may see clouds and a storm, but if you look the
other way, you can see the sun.   Same sky, but your
experience of it will have everything to do with where
you look.

To that point, focus is important.  If you want a sunny
experience, it might be best to focus on the sun.
However, while you are busy looking at the sun,
might the clouds take you by surprise?  And, more
importantly, is that a "bad" thing?  For many, my guess
is that the answer would likely be a YES.

As I type this, I think about how this all could be
explained by someone in a way that all makes sense.
I have heard that there are Universal Rules and Laws,
and I would suppose the explanation would live
within their confines.

The thing is, though, I have wondered who made the
rules?  Do they really exist in an absolute form?  If
so, why is it that many people are left in the dark, or
find themselves living by a different set of rules that
varies from those that say otherwise?

How does anyone know that what s/he believes is
the RIGHT thing?  It seems possible that beliefs are
only as powerful as the person who believes them
allows them to be.  It kinda makes sense, doesn't it?
Especially given the diversity of beliefs of those who
inhabit the planet right now.

I once thought of organized religion like a pie.
Each religion had its slice.  At the same time, each
slice originated at the center, and was a part of the
whole.  While that was in relation to religion, I
would have to say now I think it can apply to
almost anything where there are differences.

At the center of it all is our humanity.  There may
be other things, too, but it is what we have in
common in the most basic of ways.  Stemming
from that is a world of possibilities, many of which
some may find abhorrent.

So how did I go from focus on what one wants to
here?  I am not really sure.  I guess it is just one
of those journeys that my mind takes.  I have to
wonder how it relates, though.  Because I am
pretty sure it does in some way.

I often want to control things, and know how they
are going to go.  Of course, that never really happens,
but it doesn't stop me from wanting it, or trying to
make it happen on occasion.  Fortunately I am
getting a bit better about it over time, but it still
is difficult to be at the "mercy" of the things that
I didn't want, and had no interest in focusing on.

And isn't life often like that?  Doesn't it often give
us things to see and interact with that we don't
want to have anything to do with?  And that,
of course, makes it all the more interesting when
someone so easily says, "focus on what you want."

Maybe we are supposed to see these other things.
Maybe we are supposed to interact with them.
Maybe turning the other way only leaves us
surprised when the storm comes overhead.

Maybe we are supposed to get wet.

Maybe the act of forcibly focusing on something
is more about being human than being in the
place of the Universal Rule Book.  Of course
it feels better to focus in a desired direction,
but if it is difficult to stay there, or you think
you "should" be there, then maybe it isn't the
right placed to be at the moment, and the rule
isn't applicable.

That is potentially an easy out for someone who
might be afraid, or stuck.  But then again, maybe
being afraid and/or stuck is what will propel you
to the next place you are meant to be, and if you
were busy playing by the "rules," you would miss
out on what the experience had to offer.

Don't people sometimes see a reason for doing
things differently than a rule expresses it should
be done?  It makes me wonder if there truly are
Universal Rules and Laws why they would be
exempt from this way of thinking, and yet they
are often stamped with an ABSOLUTE label.

Doesn't it seem that the idea of rules, in general,
is a HUMAN thing?  Rules set parameters, and
often limits, which is the best way for us to
ACT like we have any control over anything,
but the act is within the illusion of what our
life appears to be.

It strikes me that often peace is sought in permanence,
which is yet another illusion as nothing is permanent.
But if we have the illusion of permanence, we may
be likely to feel peaceful.  Of course when the thing
shows itself to be less than that, peace - inner or
otherwise - goes out the window.

So if life is full of illusions that we feed, I guess the
only thing we have any control over is what kind
of food we give it.  I suspect many times when there
is a perceived problem it is because we are focused
on trying to control the pieces of the puzzle that are
out of our control.

Makes me think of a lot of things differently
considering this possibility.  It tells me - if there
is any "truth" to this idea - that the answer to many
of the problems we have with the dynamics of things
that are affected by our rules and attempt to control
the uncontrollable really lies in a different realm
than the one we are accustomed to.

My head hurts.  How is yours?