Focus

 Hello Natural Health Family! It’s Monday again so you know what that means… we get to have another great week. Now I know that sometimes we may think the weekend went fast and we have to go back to work. However, a subtle change in mindset helps for many different areas of life. Let's talk about mindset and more specifically our focus. 

Can you remember a time when you were laser focused on something or activity you did. Maybe it was when you were a kid and you wanted to be able to perform some skill like riding a bike. At first you might have used training wheels to get a feel of what the end result would feel like. You would be cruising down the road with the wind in your hair and excited knowing that all that time spent training was worth it. So then, you are getting comfortable with the training wheels so you take them off and see how it goes. You notice that it is hard to maintain your balance and you feel a bit scared so you start slow and are hesitant to keep both legs on the pedals. Then thoughts start to come up saying “are you sure you want to keep it up, you might get hurt” or “I don’t think I’m good enough to do it” or “maybe I'll try it when I’m older.” Then you get a feeling of discouragement which further makes you feel that it’s not worth learning it. But you feel a shift in you, a change of feeling, something within. You remember that feeling you had when you had the training wheels on. You already felt the end result and your brain started to fire up to that similar state and now you feel as though you can do it. You remember also that you have seen other kids your age do it too. So instead of going half way in with slight hesitation you dive head first embracing that same feeling as if you are already cruising down the road. You get on the bike and before you know it that same fearful thought pops back in. For a second you stop, but then you choose to conquer that fear and right on the other side you get a rush of excitement. You push full go and away you go riding down the road. You feel great knowing that you accomplished what you wanted to do. Then you realize that you have never gone this fast before and forget about how to break. So you run into a fence… but you get up and brush yourself off because you feel good knowing you can get back on and ride again. 

This short story is an analogy of how focus can be a great tool to accomplish anything in life. When we place our attention on something that we want to do in life and feel as though it has happened we are wiring our brain to feel more confident in achieving that task. Therefore, in this day and age with technology, politics, conflict, etc. it is important to stay relaxed and keep our focus on things we can control. We may not be able to control what is all going on in our environments but we can control how we react to certain situations and/or people in our lives.

When we give ourselves enough attention, focus on the good in us and the world around us, then we start letting the other details of life pass by knowing that we are moving forward to better and brighter things. There is still much suffering in the world and that is why we must focus on the good and appreciate what life has given us. And when able, offer those in need a helping hand especially when others lose their focus.

Thank you very much for reading.

Dr. Chip