Focus

Focus, to concentrate attention or effort (Webster’s ninth new collegiate dictionary). Without clear focus life would be a blur. It makes sense that if you have trouble focusing on one thing at a time you don’t focus well enough on any one thing. Now I just want to start off by saying I am one of the worst when it comes to staying focused. My mind is constantly wandering or getting distracted by the birds in my head. But, I’ve learned that when I do focus on one thing I benefit greatly. Largely due to the fact that I only have that one thing to worry about. When snowboarding and biking you need to focus, you don’t really have a choice. If you lose focus you will crash, I know from experience. By forcing your brain to focus on what you’re doing you are living in that moment, where you should be. Let me explain. It’s a proven fact that people have negative connotations about themselves. We all view ourselves in a negative light more than we view ourselves in a positive light most of the time. We either view some aspect about us as negative or we also look to the past or future with negative thoughts. We may feel things would have worked out better if we had only done something a little differently. We may also have negative thoughts about what the future holds. The truth is it doesn’t matter! You should look to the past and learn from it but don’t live their (this idea was also discussed Oct. 4, 5 2008 for those of you who know what I’m talking about) the only reality is the now, what’s happening right now. If you’re unable to focus and do good now your future may turn out exactly how you negatively think it will turn out. That’s called a self-fulfilling prophecy. When you tell yourself you can’t do something or how much you suck, your thinking in this way will most likely led to that conclusion. Fortunately this can also be used in positive thinking as well. It might be good every once in a while to tell yourself how good you are doing, just don’t get conceded. One thing I do when I start worrying about something or am looking at the past in a negative light, is I picture a traffic light that’s red to remind myself that it isn’t helping me to worry about whatever it was I was thinking about. But an even better way is to do something that requires your complete focus.
--Snowboarding off roofs--VT--
Barton