The barter system is a method of exchange whose origins can be traced back to the tribes of Mesopotamia. This system of exchange was later expanded by Phoenicians who bartered a myriad of goods including cedar wood, spices, glass and textiles with the Greeks and Egyptians. ¹ Through bartering the Phoenicians spread their alphabet all over the Mediterranean region and introduced it to people of many different civilizations. It soon became a valuable tool for international commerce and was almost certainly the source of the Greek alphabet, which later inspired the one that most Western languages – including English – use today.

While the barter system is not as predominant today as it was in the Ancient World the principles of exchange are still very much alive. In this article I want to discuss a different kind of exchange; one who’s value often goes unnoticed and is under utilized. This exchange has to do with attention

The Power Of Attention

Attention is a resource available to every single human being on planet earth. It has to do with being deeply engaged and cognizant of a single occurrence in one’s immediate environment. All around us, at any given moment, there are events taking place that have the potential to influence our attention. These events are not only happening in the world, but they are also taking place within the body. But as it stands, a person is only capable of focusing on a portion, and not the whole of events taking place.

The power of attention is in its capacity to transcend time and affect one’s experience. Attention is not constrained by time because through it a person can selectively engage with and experience the present, relive moments from the past, or dream about the future. Consider this, our minds have the ability to draw on the past through memory, and in a split second we can transport ourselves to the future with imagination, and in an instant we can come back to the present, to now, and experience the events of the moment.

To add to that, attention magnifies experience by pulling the curtains of emotions and drawing you into them as you consciously perceive what’s taking place in your environment.

Attention In The Age of Information

Now more than ever before, we are inundated with information that is widely broadcast and easily available with a click of a button. All this information is vying for your attention and not only does it want to get your attention but it wants to keep it.

Attention is now the currency of the information age. When you engage with information an exchange takes place wherein you give the information your attention, and in return the information gives you the message carried within it. More often than not, you should seek information that is of value to you and that you will put to use, and not allow haphazard information to distract you.

When attention is given to necessary and relevant information the result is a worthy exchange that makes the information subject to the one who consumes it, but when attention is exchanged unreservedly for random information, the information is no longer subject but master of the one who wields it.

Safeguard your attention by being prudent and deliberate about the information you choose to interact with. So the next time you direct your attention someplace ask yourself, Is this a worthy exchange?

1. Article Quote; Source: Your guide to the Phoenicians.