Spiritual Focus

Spiritual Focus

I’d like to be more “spiritually focused,” at least I think I do. I haven’t gotten close enough to my goal so be sure. By that term, I mean to be thinking more spiritual thoughts throughout each day and each interaction I undertake. What is a spiritual thought? I’m guessing it’s a little like the Supreme Court’s definition of pornography: ‘I’ll know it when I see it.’

I’ve been going about my days with rather secular thoughts buzzing around inside my head. I’ll skip meditating; I’ll focus on finances, projects, exercise, entertainment or hobbies, all with a materialistic emphasis: get more, get better, finish well, enjoy. Perhaps I should declare I’m a devout and disorganized hedonist.

Thus, I decided today my issue is focus – focus on the spiritual things in my life – and on my mindset. I’ve been focusing too much on the material things in my life. Couple all that with a general inability to say “No” and a desire to please, and you can see why I never know how my days will turn out – or what their focus will be.

I have a pile of books, CDs and DVDs to read, listen to, and watch. There are philosophies I want to explore and related techniques to learn; yet the days slide by and my level of frustration rises, because I don’t get to them all. I get to a lot of other things, but I’m not spending enough time in this segment of my life. Am I not interested enough? I seem to be, when the idea about spiritual focus floats back through my monkey brain.

I need Spiritual Focus.

So here are some things I’m going to try to do over the next few weeks to concentrate some of my energy in this area of my life.

1. Organize Things Into Small Bites – One reason I’ve procrastinated so much is that I see that large pile – the boxes and bookshelves I’d like to go through – and I have trouble finding an easy entry point in order to start. Instead of the hazy (out of focus) list of things I think I’d like to do; I need to take time to study and prioritize things. Right now my list is rather vague: read, watch, and listen to all those things on my shelves; learn this; study that. Commonsense tells me to take one small bite at a time of what I’d like to accomplish and not look at the whole ‘indigestible’ pile. So, I’ll arrange things in the order I want to get to them.

2. Visualize – For each book, CD, DVD or whatever, I need to visualize how I will do it. I need to feel what it will be like to finish each thing or learn that body of knowledge. Will I take notes? What will I do with them? What result am I looking for? Is there a special setting I need to honor? Could the Circle use this? Why do I have this?

3. Block Out Time – Mornings are my best reading time. Late mornings or afternoons are good for my long walks, and hence listening to CDs on my iPod. Evenings are times I like to watch a DVD. Now I just need to take those realizations and block out times for my various projects. I should also set specific times and durations for my work, allowing myself a little flexibility. (Here’s a cool timer if you want to use it for your own focusing efforts: http://www.online-stopwatch.com/)

4. Remove the Clutter - Simplify – Something else that will help me focus is to remove the clutter from my workspace – all the eye candy laying around my office reminds me of other things I also want to do. I need to get rid of the distractions that I so easily slip into, rather than attack that large pile I’d like to get through by the end of the summer.

5. Meditate – I know I will accomplish more and retain more of what I study if I meditate before any task. It clears the mind and raises my awareness level. One thing I don’t want to do is approach my study with too much familiarity, else I’ll miss the fine points I’m trying to learn. Coming to my spiritual tasks with a clear mind allows me a fresh viewpoint each time.

So there are a few ideas I thought I’d share with you this week. If you have any ideas you could share with me, I’d be more appreciative.

Namasté

This newsletter is to stimulate your spiritual thinking in the hope that it will contribute to your spiritual growth. The essays are not meant to be complete treatises on the subject, only short papers to stimulate your thinking. The author invites your comments and critiques by reply e-mail to bob@futuremoons.com.