What are you looking at?

Have you ever had someone say that to you? I am saying this to you today because if you can answer that question correctly, it is the start of progress in your life.

If you want to succeed in anything, you must focus on it. We have often heard people say to us, or said it ourselves to others, “Be focused.” If we do not focus, we get distracted, we lose interest, and we do not succeed. I have seen this firsthand. My two sons have been involved in sports on an international level. My eldest son was the number one touch rugby referee in New Zealand and ranked in the top three in the world. My youngest son was a professional rugby player and represented New Zealand, winning a world cup in England. Do you think they got there by knowing people in the right places or were they lucky? No! It took dedication, it took blood, sweat, and tears, but most importantly, they had to focus on what was in front of them to reach the top. Any distraction could have shattered their dreams. In life, what we focus on determines what happens to us. If we focus on negativity, we will become negative people. If we focus on being positive, we will be positive people. In my experience what I focus on determines whether I am “up or down” in life or whether I move forward or back. I know this is easier said than done. When times are tough, it is hard to see positives. When you have “hit the wall” it is hard to see anything but what is in front of us, so I am not advocating that when something difficult happens straight away you start dancing and act as if nothing has happened. Of course, there is a time to see the negatives, and there is nothing wrong with that, but we cannot allow ourselves to stay in that state because it then becomes our focus and once it is our focus, it consumes us.

Let’s think about people going through rehabilitation. It is painful, it is frustrating, it may be boring but if those people focused just on the pain, the frustration or the boredom they would give up. They are told to focus on the end result. They are told not to look at or think about what is affecting them now, but what is ahead.

I hope I have convinced you that what we focus or look at determines the outcome.

As a Christian the Bible says this “Look on or focus on Jesus.” In my journey, this is something I have had to learn fast. I have focused on people and been let down badly. I have focused on the “church” and been hugely disappointed. I have focused on myself and realized how weak I am. I have focused on my abilities, gifting, knowledge, and experience yet found out they are not enough. I have focused on my work and activities,and they have not satisfied me, but as I am learning to focus on God (I’m a slow learner) it is making things a lot easier. I am not coming from the point of a “know it all” because it has been difficult coming to this conclusion but  the hard knocks I’m getting enables me to slowly learn.

I know what it is like to be sick. I have had cancer (2), meningococcal meningitis, pneumonia (2) and after a short time of struggling with these sicknesses I learnt to take my eyes off my ailments and begin to  focus on God. Without knowing whether the outcome was going to be good or bad I got amazing peace and the outcome was not so important anymore.

While I was struggling in the “cult” I thought I was going crazy. I could not remember things or function as myself. It was so bad that I went to a neurologist to have a brain scan. You will be happy to know I do have a brain which was a relief but most importantly there was nothing wrong with me. It was stress. When I was forced to leave the cult (you can read the story in the other blogs) if I had not been looking at God thru the rejection, lies, hatred, rumors I would not have made it. It was so severe. By focusing on God, he brought the right people around me and organized the circumstances to help get me  through. If this can happen to me it can most certainly happen to you.

Even now I sometimes take my eyes off God and start thinking about the past. My eyes shift to negativity, and I get angry and upset. I have to give myself an “uppercut” to bring me back to where I should focus. I now feel the best I have had for years. The stress has gone, the focus has returned,relationships have been restored and I am able to help other people who have been struggling like I have. Will I lose focus again? Probably, but I now know what I should do to get back and focus on God. It is not hard, but it is human nature to wander at times.

I hope this helps you to be careful where you look and focus. It will determine how you feel, act, and live. Instead of focusing on many things just focus on one thing…God.

I had someone send the following quote to me I would like to share as it follows on to what I have been trying to say.

RESIGNATION SAYS:

“This is happening. There is nothing I can do about it. I suppose I have to live with it.”

ACCEPTANCE SAYS:

This is what is happening right now. I won’t deny it, run from it or pretend it doesn’t hurt.”

TRUST SAYS:

“God, I don’t know what you are going to do about it. I don’t know whether it will change. But I trust you enough to keep walking with you while I don’t know.”