Every athlete in the world knows the value of focus and dedication. Those two topics seem to go hand in hand. Hence, that’s why I’m going to talk about them together here. :-)
What does it really mean to focus? Or be dedicated? Let’s visit our old friend Webster and see what he has to say.
Focus - to concentrate attention or effort
Dedication - self-sacrificing devotion
Is it just me, or does anyone else feel that Webster really sucks sometimes in the whole definition department? Sure, I mean, that CAN be the meanings for focus and dedication, but it lacks, well, everything that makes them into such powerful words and traits.
Let’s take focus for a second. Think of a time when you were doing something that you simply LOVED to do. Whether it be reading, or writing, or building a model and suddenly, hours and hours have past. THAT is focus. It’s a state where the outside world has no influence on you and only the task at hand matters. Focus will allow someone to work till they can’t move or accomplish damn near anything. It is a state of mind that allows your mind to move past this reality that we find ourselves trapped in. Now…hold that thought for a second. :-)
Dedication is a lot like focus. In fact, if you have enough of them both together, you are able to achieve wonderful results in anything you want. Dedication is something that comes from the heart. It’s what allows the heart and mind to work together and build dreams. It’s a trait that puts aside the needs of this world for the needs of the heart’s beliefs. Sadly, dedication is something that can be, to some extent, chosen and rechosen throughout a lifetime. Our world seems to value a dedication to money and things. Always exhorting people to sacrifice other things to have more of both.
But, what if we found a golden path? One that would bring about incredible good in our life? One where our focus and dedication could be used to achieve wonderful things for those that matter the most to us? Do you think that amazing things would happen in your life?
Focus and dedication are vital on the journey that we’ve undertaken. They are the traits that will help to see us through when things start to get rough. Ever seen a guy defusing a bomb? Hopefully not first hand, but you know what I mean. :-) I bet THEY have got the focus thing down! These traits will allow you to keep on the task and on the path, even when the world is throwing things at you.
Think about the heroes we’ve mentioned before…Heracles had 12 tasks to do, each one successively harder than the last. Yet, he continued on till the end. Nothing distracted him from his goal. Gandalf spent his entire life looking for the One Ring in order to see to its destruction. Now THAT’s dedication.
Our world today is trying to make us all ADD. There are a hundred million distractions each and every day. Everyone wants a piece of your time and your life. And really…this is all just a facade that is meant to distract you from what is important. It’s meant to pull you away from your core and your heart in order to keep you from becoming the Hero that you were meant to be.
THAT is why this trait is so important. THAT is why you need to pull back and let the world slide by for a moment and refocus and rededicate to what is the MOST important things in your life.
Like Yoda says, “Concentrate!” Focus or your thoughts will be all over the place and so will your life.
1 comment:
I think that last sentence sums up a lot of the problems in our society. If we look at the Muslim terrorists, for instance, they have one goal and one focus, all the way up to and including death. Americans have already lost sight of the aftermath of what happened on 9/11. That's just one example that came to mind because we are so close to the anniversary.
It's difficult to have focus and dedication in an instant gratification society - one where no one wants to wait any time at all for anything.
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