“Focus is the key to accomplish what is necessary — easy word to spell, it contains only five letters but it is probably one of the most powerful words there are in order to move forward with confidence and with the expected results.” ~ Byron Pulsifer
I play a lot of cards. Especially hearts. It is all on the computer. Probably the most playing gets done early in the morning when I am writing these daily reflections. That is right. These reflections can be said to be the product of cards. For some crazy reason, if I play hearts, it helps me focus on the task at hand. I have a topic in mind for the reflection but it often does not come clear to me. If I distract myself with a mindless game of cards, the topic I am working on comes to focus and I can write.
When Daniel LaRusso was being taught karate by Mr. Miyagi, Mr. Miyagi would often chide Daniel to focus. Focus was the most important aspect that Daniel had to learn. Without focus, Daniel would not be able to bring his training to bear. We all know what happened when Daniel learned to focus. He won his match and also won the respect of those who were bullying him.
Focus is not easy to come by. There are too many things in this world that invite us to lose our focus. The world is filled with noise, with confusion, with temptation of all kinds. All these things can keep us from focusing upon our ultimate goals.
We can all tell stories about what happens when we lose focus. There are some people who never learn a simple task because they cannot focus long enough to learn. There are others who have worked on something for a long time and who end up losing it all because they lost focus at the last minute.
The best way to focus? For each of us, it may be entirely different. Who knew, for me, that playing a mindless game on my computer would help me to tune out all the other distractions and focus on the task at hand?
Find whatever it is that can help you focus on your goals, especially your spiritual goals. Learn what it takes to remain fixed on the Lord, on His message, and on the mission He has in store for you. It may be praying the rosary or prayers out of a prayer book. It may be sitting in contemplation. It may be spiritual reading. It may be volunteering at a soup kitchen or shelter. Whatever it is, finding a way to keep your focus on Jesus will bring the rest of your life into clarity.
FAITH ACTION: In all that you say and do today, maintain your focus on the Lord.