Focusing

                I wrote last week about starting college classes and explained a little about Pathway.  I looked at the list of assignments for the first lesson of each class and became overwhelmed.  I was near tears when I realized how much time I would need to spend, how quickly I would need to learn more about technology, and the changes I would need to make in my schedule.

                I managed to bring fears under control by remembering an instruction by my piano teacher about focusing.  I remembered that I learned much quicker and better by focusing on one note at a time.  By recalling this instruction, I told myself that I could do the work by focusing on one thing.  .  If I allow myself to look at the big picture, I still feel a little overwhelmed, but by focusing on one assignment at a time, I am able to move forward with my classes.

                Focusing on one thing at a time can help us in many areas of our lives.  Many of us pride ourselves on our ability to multi-task, but maybe we are not doing so well.  I have over-cooked food several times by not focusing on the task at hand.  I remember one of my little children saying “Listen to me with your eyes” because I was doing something else while trying to pay attention to her.  Maybe we should all practice focusing on one thing at a time; we just might be able to move forward with our lives and relationships better than we can by multi-tasking all the time.