When we work with Focus - We Suceed

Resistance wants to keep us shallow and unfocused.

What you and I seek is our own authenticity, truth and voice. As Seneca had put it many thousands of years ago “We live in a time of great distractions, the whole future lies in uncertainty, live immediately”

So much stuff – Identity in our possessions

Are we creating our own identity by acquiring so much? Is the reason behind minimalism to cast away those items that identified you as a person and you don’t want to be that person anymore? What we own becomes us. The choices we made to purchase a certain item is projecting a story you want to tell – electric car? You care about the environment. Patagonia Shirt? You care about factory workers getting paid fairly Beards / pants / sports we play / music we listen to – adds to the story.

It becomes an issue when it overwhelms us – for myself it was photography equipment. With over 6 camera bodies and 20 lenses it was all a bit too much – but I wanted to identify myself as a photographer by the equipment I had, not by the work I produced.

I just can’t take a selfie with my phone like everyone else - I have to be a photographer in use the “real” camera.

So what would happen if I sold all of my photography gear instead and become a single camera/single lens person that seems to be the direction many head towards? Money is not for spending to accumulate things, money is a value ticket – where what you value most is where your time, thoughts and efforts are spent. Greater joy comes from spending this money on experiences bought and places visited.

Dependency is Slavery - Dependency on money, your job, obligations and Debt.

The question arises out of the depth of an old soul in my forties (late) trying to understand what purpose or direction I need to go. The feeling of despondency living each day like yesterday, cleaning, serving others, pleasing others, constantly solving others problems [remember – other peoples problems ARE your problem – as when THEY have a problem, they will make it YOUR problem to solve it – such is the time we live in].

Leaving your dreams, goals, ambitions and wants get endlessly pushed down the list causing an existence of despondency merged with hopelessness all in the futility of trying – trying to create some order that seems effective as racking leaves in a wind storm.

So you have to ask yourself. What is it you want to do with the last 10, 15 or 25+ years left in your own life? As a Paramedic of nearly 20 years and having visited countless elderly in nursing homes who dedicated their lives to the service of others only to be left in a haze of overcooked vegetable smells. No-one working in this for-profit care facility will know what these people gave up. Most people want to help, to be appreciated, to be noticed and insightful of others motivations on what they need.

Increase your own self worth by taking responsibility of your own situation right now

and change it for the betterment of yourself – don’t look to others to tell you how fantastic you are doing when you know you are probably not.

DEPENDENCY IS SLAVERY

The realisation that you are dependant on another person / company / employer or support service makes you soon realise that you are not, in fact, free.

These assumptions are quietly hidden in our minds as we are distracted by well crafted television shows, YouTube, Netflix, Alcohol and consumerism to numb with traces of dopamine, encased in the knowledge that something is uneasy underneath but not exactly knowing what.

From one distraction to the next.

Lets trace it all back to the original source, then work out what is required to become truly free in what we do. Let pretend for a moment we are free from restriction in time, money, thought and action. We are constantly assessing outwardly what is going on / taking place and adjusting our inner thoughts. Throughout some days we can become self absorbed and dwell on the issues in and around us, projecting misery, anger and malevolence to the world.

DISTRACTIONS

The distractions and outside influences that take away from our true goals and purpose – tasks we attend to first (feeling obliliged to) because each is presented to us as an “emergency” and “obligation” a “have to do” which takes away from what you really wanted to achieve this day. This one simple task that when you awoke and said with your inner voice “All I want to get done is this one thing” – but it never happens, you lay your head back on the same pillow hours later feeling nothing but resentment, frustration and anger at the things you attended to, because you “had” to this one thing first. Putting others first because you love them, then hating them because you did.

This can be your employer, your possessions or even your family.

BE SPECIFIC IN WHAT YOU WANT

LIVE A FULFILLING LIFE – DON’T JUST FOCUS ON A HAPPY LIFE

The idea / concept / word of discipline arises in every area of life. When I am watching a clip on YouTube (Which I quite often do, maybe to excess) about creativity, screenwriting and photography -discipline is discussed in such detail. Elevating the observation from the person being interviewed that those who relentlessly commit to turning out the pages day-to-day regardless if they “Feel inspired” or not, just happens to be those writers who are successful above all others.

It is not just writing – it is in every field that I have had an interest in (Medicine, Triathlon, Film-making, photography and writing) those who put out the most content regardless of the qaulity tend to be those who are ahead of everybody else.

Consistent effort and focus – persistence even shows the dedication for an outcome that will present itself fully.

Self Discipline – Habit – Consistency – Focus

“You can have anything you want in life, but you can’t have everything in life” – Ray Dalio

So why is it that we have dreams and aspirations, have the intellegence to source all of the other resources, hints, tips, ideas, insights, previous accounts of past experiences of those who have already “done it” only to find ourselves in exactly the same situation one week, 4 months or 2 years later? What the hell is going on? Am I some kind of human with faulty programming or are these people extreme outliers within the bell curve of civilization and actually 99% of us are destined to be – well – normal. You are normal – normal people will tend to find the easiest path to achieve an outcome, and if the outcome is a short term want or desire, you have got your goal.

You are a result of your habits. Your Habits define you and you cannot expect to change the course of your life in one day! - or can you? The one day becomes that one week, which becomes that 4 months and 2 years later. Think about this carefully for one moment. The thing that you can change in an instant is your attitude, your thoughts and choices in a manner that will change your direction. Unfortunately a lot of our “choices” in life we make are based on emotions or feelings, many of which don’t really benefit us in the future. We wait to get “Motivated”

Motivated – Motivate(v.) 1863 “To Stimulate toward action – act as inciting cause of”

Unfulfilled

Fulfillment is not happiness.

Happiness is an emotion that is transient based on a certain situation or circumstance - a neurotransmitter chemical messages the receptor sites to change the persons state. It’s like eating a packet of potatoe chips for the shear momentary joy - delighting in the precisely engineered snack food created with the most skillfully trained scientist, at the lowest cost, for maximum profit - that provides the levels of crunch, saltiness and fat the heighten your taste buds and have your mouth salivate like Pavlovs dog. It then after a period of time when the bodys own systems kick in, your brain will provide a sensation that its overdone leading to nausea,, a stomach in knots and a sense of justified guilt.

Fulfillment on the other hand is a slowly cooked home meal made with love, care and attention that when eaten nutrients every cell with its sustainable energy flow.

A solution to the unfulfilled life can start when you recognise that at some point in your life, your dreams didn’t match up to your reality

Most People live comfortably waiting to die.

Comfortably going from one moment of certainty to the next, not exploring, not reaching, not experiencing anything out of the ordinary as to not dare invade that space of uncertainty, work, suffering, hardship, anxiety which could be the doorway to something better. Better the devil you know? Don’t be sure about that. You will grow older and the circumstances will get worse - believe me - and the malevolence will grow inside your aging mind like a cancer remunerating on paths not taken, choices of ease and words not said. The growing sadness in the world can be seen all around behind the electronic portraits we hold to the world we hold so dear - the digital age that promised us so much, yet we are humans with the same biological makeup to our fellow beings thousands of years past, yet living with God like technology engineered to target our inner most desires.