“Your Focus Determines Your Reality”

While checking to see what was happening on Instragram the other day, I read a post that quoted “Always Remember, Your Focus Determines Your Reality.”

While not everything turns out well for the character to whom these words were spoken, they got me thinking.  They became part of my focus, shaping my reality.

I am able to focus well. Focus is one of the qualities that strengthens my listening. Focus helps me turn values and vision into practical steps toward a goal.

There have been times, though, when strong focus has limited what was real to me. I am sometimes so focused on one thing that I miss everything else.

Focus is what enables a photographer to choose a photograph to take. You cannot include everything in a photo; it will be out of focus. One of the keys to taking a great photograph is having a focal point.

The focal point serves as the theme or the topic of the photo. It is where the organizational structure and the context of the picture begins.

In the same way, when I focus on a question or a word, it is where my attention begins.

Paying attention to one thing, even the focal point, means that other things recede into the background. I see, and understand, the whole picture in terms of the focal point. My focus gives me the beginning of a context that determines what I recognize as real.

The challenge of strong focus is that we cannot focus on everything. We are like the detective in a mystery who, at the climactic moment, remembers the clue that helps them see more of reality.

Our focus determines our reality.

How is your focus determining your reality today?

Where is your focal point?

[Image by gfpeck]