Saturday, June 16, 2007

Focus

"Winners focus, losers spray" is a popular mantra among personal achievement gurus. Fine, be that way. Now how many things can I focus on at once?

I teach Michaela how to juggle tennis balls while the rest of the tribe is actually hitting them with rackets (no no no! not the same balls we are juggling!) "Throw it up and focus on it! When its all the way up, throw up the next one and one watch IT. When it's all the way up throw the NEXT one up and watch it! Just let your hands figure out how to catch the ones coming down...."

For maximum personal achievement, send as many fun-colored balls skyward as you can. Focus intently when they are at their peak, then let your mind let them go as they descend. Trust your reflexes, your past learning and the systems you've created to catch them before they hit the gound. At the same time, focus on the next soaring ball.

If you drop a few, laugh hysterically, create better systems, and start again with fewer balls if you wish. DON'T GET CRANKY! It's part of the game you signed up for.

If you wimp out and decide you hate juggling, you can always put one ball on the table and stare at it intently. I guess that's a kind of focus, and you won't risk dropping it that way. But what is really WRONG with dropping balls, other than what we make it mean? Actually it's kinda reassuring to know gravity isn't doing anything unexpected. And ask yourself, if you really hate falling balls, why the heck did you want to juggle to begin with?


...If you get REALLY aggravated, you can always grab a racket and whale the heck outta that ball!

6 comments:

  1. I learned to juggle during a pretty boring week at Mountaineer Boy's State back in '82. I love how you describe it; it's exactly the way I learned.

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  2. I was in a rush and read your comment as "I learned to juggle during pretty boy week at Mountaineer." Yup, time to slow down!

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  3. Our thoughts are so similar...I hear twins do that a lot ;0)

    Desperatly I am trying to understand what God wants me to do and how the pieces fit together.. I don't want to "spray"... unless it's iced tea out the nose because I am laughting really hard!

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  4. Just don't spray sweet and sour pork out your nose. I did that once. I was not laughing. I do not recommend it.

    However, I was able to burp after that (something I couldn't do prior, except under extreme duress!)Yup, there's always a silver lining!

    BTW I just cut a few more escrima sticks!

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  5. Interesting way to describe that topic. I'm not convinced, however, that spraying equals losing, despite what the guru's say. If you're really focused on one thing, and that one thing is discovering your life's purpose, isn't spraying necessary? Life is a numbers game. Some people are blessed to know from the time they're 3 years old what their purpose is. Some of us, have to put a bunch of stuff in the funnel and see what comes out the other end.

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  6. wow gyps, you're right, he is a wise one... a funnel... now why didn't i think if that, i'll head to walmart first thing. ;0)

    and, maybe who you are and what you're to become, ie.. "do" is not a single item or event. think of the "spray" from a waterfall in winter. it's destiny is to become a beautiful sculpture completely seperate from the body of water it was part of.

    thank you cyrus for your support of "spray".

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