The Beam in Your Own Eye
What am I manifesting?
“`htmlMindfulness, Manifestation & Stewardship
The Beam in Your Own Eye
What am I manifesting?
Why do you see the speck that is in your brother’s eye, but do not notice the beam that is in your own eye? Or how can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ when there is the beam in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the beam out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly…
— Matthew 7:3–5
When Christ speaks about the beam in your own eye, the obvious meaning is judgment. Before concerning yourself with the faults of another, attend to your own.
But there is another application that has become increasingly useful to me.
The beam is whatever belongs to me.
Not my neighbor’s choices.
Not my ex’s choices.
Not my parents’ choices.
Not politics.
Not culture.
Not the economy.
Not the weather.
Not the dating market.
Not the mistakes of strangers.
Mine.
The moment my attention leaves my own stewardship and becomes occupied with everyone else’s business, I have left the beam and returned to specks. Oh how distracting those specks are…
The question I really want to ask myself is simple:
What have I chosen?
Not what do I wish for.
Not what do I hope for.
Not what do I talk about.
What have I actually chosen?
Because once a choice is made, something begins to manifest.
Everything visible begins as something invisible.
This is where manifestation becomes much more practical than mystical.
The question is not: can I manifest what I want?
The question is: what is manifesting right now?
Because something always is.
Fear manifests.
Distraction manifests.
Avoidance manifests.
Anxiety manifests.
Anger manifests.
Endless research manifests.
Indecision manifests.
Procrastination manifests.
A thriving business is a manifestation.
So is spending ten years preparing to start one.
A finished manuscript is a manifestation.
So is an unwritten one.
A strong prayer life is a manifestation.
So is continually postponing prayer until tomorrow.
Something is always taking form.
Something is always becoming visible.
Something is always becoming flesh.
That realization changed how I think about the beam.
The beam is often the thing already manifesting “instead.”
If I say I want to write a book but spend every evening scrolling Instagram, then the scrolling is manifesting.
If I say I want a relationship but continually feed fear, avoidance, and doubt, then those are manifesting.
If I say I want a business but spend years collecting information instead of serving customers, then information gathering is manifesting.
My Personal Achilles Heel
My personal Achilles heel is information.
Another book.
Another course.
Another podcast.
Another opinion.
Another expert.
I can exhaust myself with how much I think I need to know.
Do I really need more information?
Or do I need to act on what I already know?
Knowledge can only take me so far.
At some point there is always a decision and then a leap of faith.
At some point there is always a leap of faith. Always. It doesn’t matter how far up I push the information gathering.
Trust that what I already know is enough to take the next step.
The visible results in my life tell the truth. And the visible lack of results speaks just as loud.
What is actually occupying my mind, and how does that make me feel?
What is actually receiving my attention?
What is actually receiving my loyalty?
What is actually receiving my action?
The answers are sitting in plain sight.
One of them is always winning.
One of them is always becoming visible.
One of them is always manifesting.
The beam belongs to me because my attention belongs to me.
My stewardship belongs to me.
My choices belong to me.
And if I do not like what is manifesting in my life, the first and best place to look is not at the specks. It is at the beam.
