Some people are naturally more focused than others, but focus is important for everyone.
When you’re focused, you get more done in less time; you rid yourself of distractions. When you’re focused, the main things seem to be clearer in your mind.
But it’s not always easy to be focused. There are times – especially when we are tired – that we just can’t focus on any one thing.
I had that experience a week ago when I was working with a committee to write a report. We had worked for many hours on the contents and finally we were consolidating and tuning all our expressions into a concise, articulate document.
After a couple of hours, I couldn’t concentrate on the point we were dealing with. All I could think of was closing my eyes, that there was time the next day to finish our task.
A few days ago, I also had a moment when I had to talk myself into getting focused. I was trying to throw a crumpled piece of paper into a garbage basket from about eleven feet away (okay, I measured the distance later).
I missed three times: to the left, to the right, and then short. Each time I thought I would make the shot, but it wasn’t until I really trained my sights on the back of the basket that I drained it.
I had to tell my eyes what to lock onto, instead of looking in the general direction. When I locked my focus on the back of the garbage basket, I put it in … and to prove it wasn’t a fluke, I did it five more times in a row after that.
When I think of focus, I think of a magnifying glass and the sun. When you get the sun to shine through the magnifier until the light draws together to form a ray that is so intense and powerful that you can start a fire, that’s focus.
When I focus on a golf ball, I will hit it squarely centred on the club face. When my focus is not trained on the ball, I will miss the centre ever so slightly and the ball will not travel as far.
In my office, first thing in the morning, if I get out my study tools and start reading, I focus on my task undistracted.
If, however, I open up my email, my focus is lost to find out who wants my attention. My mind is flooded with added thoughts, concerns, and demands that were not there before I looked at my email.
My intent, my focus is no longer laser-like; it’s not going to burn a hole through any paper.
The trick is eliminating things that distract, that widen our view and keep us from locking onto our target with pinpoint accuracy.
Here’s the thing: When it comes to focusing on God, the best time to focus is before you have any other commitment or distraction on your mind. That’s why I like the early morning, before I look at or do anything else. That’s when it’s easiest to focus on my mind on God. And if I happen to wake up with something else on my mind, I simply determine a later time when I will deal with it, so I can lay it aside for the time being.
That’s Life!
Paul
Question: What do you do to focus your attention? Leave your comments below.
