Focus

[Justin Passing]

Originally Posted by JustBe

No one can move me past my learned slowness, steady pace now. Try as they may, they’ll find me going even slower meeting them in this way..

haha - Me too. Anxiety or panic in others brings me to a screeching halt. I literally freeze in place. Like a runaway stagecoach in the old westerns. Whoa there horses! I said whoa! It's like I'm trying to balance them out or something. Reign them in. (lol)

[JustBe]

Originally Posted by Justin Passing

haha - Me too. Anxiety or panic in others brings me to a screeching halt. I literally freeze in place. Like a runaway stagecoach in the old westerns. Whoa there horses! I said whoa! It's like I'm trying to balance them out or something. Reign them in. (lol)

That’s the perfect analogy, it fits my picture perfectly..

[Starman]

In my opinion it is modern life with its multi-tasking and the perceived need to get a lot of things done,
high expectations and demands which we place on ourselves, which adds to anxiety and a scattered
sense of being. The journey is one which takes us back to simplicity and a calmer state of being.

The story of focus is a story of attention, or the lack thereof. Another word for focus is concentration
and lots of people believe that they can not concentrate, but everyone concentrates when they are angry.
They are fixated on whatever they are angry about. Which supports the premise that to focus we have to
be really interested in that which we intend to focus on.

Everything begins with our attention and what we constantly give our attention to will grow. Attention is
alert attentiveness. Focus is sharp clear cut attentive awareness. An arrow head has no energy of its own;
the force whereby it cleaves its mark is a derived force. An arrow is simply a means whereby power is
transmitted.

It is the same with focused attention. The life force power within us is directed by our attentive focus; just
as the arrow is directed by the bow. Focused attention is the application of the “magical agent” that is within
us. We do not need to add anything to our lives, all we need do is learn the proper application of what we
already have.

The law that makes a kite fall to the ground is the same law that keeps an airplane aloft. The laws that
result in misery, failure, and dis-ease, are the same laws when appropriately applied leads to secure comfort,
success, and health. The reason for failure is the same reason for success; it is all a matter of proper
application, or the lack thereof.

A person can get to a point where they are so concentrated that they no longer need to hold their focus,
rather their concentration is holding them; it is holding their attention. This state of focus is often called
“Samadhi” in Sanskrit. It is an absolutely absorbed state of piercing focus, a state of unparallel alert
joy-filled concentration.

It starts by quieting our thoughts and focusing on a single point. Inner silence alone can help us focus.
If nurtured for longer periods of time it may become easier and easier to focus. We focus from the quiet
that is within us.

[iamthat]

Originally Posted by Starman

The story of focus is a story of attention, or the lack thereof. ...Everything begins with our attention and what we constantly give our attention to will grow. Attention is alert attentiveness. Focus is sharp clear cut attentive awareness. ... A person can get to a point where they are so concentrated that they no longer need to hold their focus, rather their concentration is holding them; it is holding their attention.

Some thoughts on this:

We are Consciousness and we experience Consciousness as awareness.

Directing our awareness gives rise to attention.

Turning our attention to something is focus.

Holding that focus is concentration.

Prolonging that concentration is meditation.

We could also say:

1. Curiosity is the basis of focus - something attracts our attention
2. Interest is the basis of concentration - the object of our attention is of more interest than anything else which might distract us
3. Absorption is the basis of meditation - this is choiceless attention where concentration is firmly held almost as if in a magnetic attraction.

Peace

[Sir Neil]

Yes, the now is the only time you have, but when things are moving too fast or slow, your attention goes to other times. If it’s too slow, you look to the past when it could have been better and more exciting. If it’s moving fast, you look to the future and either fear the future or get carried away with positivity.

What you can do to sort this is to bring yourself right back into the present by appreciating what you have now, and contemplating everything which is good in your life right now. This eases things down to so that they become more manageable.

[Starman]

Originally Posted by Sir Neil

Yes, the now is the only time you have, but when things are moving too fast or slow, your attention goes to other times. If it’s too slow, you look to the past when it could have been better and more exciting. If it’s moving fast, you look to the future and either fear the future or get carried away with positivity.

I agree, living in the here and now is one of the best ways to nurture focus. In meditation we can experience the eternal now, no past, no future, only the ever present now. Everything is happening in an eternal moment and the rest of it is just a dance of shadow and light. Beyond mental constructs, words, and labels, that we give to things; this is my experience, and that too is but a label.

[JustBe]

@starman

Everything you shared holds a relationship to focus. Thanks for sharing your understandings.

Focus. That’s what I want at the moment. Before getting distracted by this intense attraction I’m still feeling towards someone, I lost my focus on my new activities. I was so focused, and now this person caught almost all my attention. It’s hard to try to forget him, I don’t think I ever will or even want to, but I’m not letting him distance myself from the new things I was so dedicated to in the past few months, cause that would be such a shame. It’s not an easy challenge though, gotta be strong.

[inavalan]

Originally Posted by backhere

Focus. That’s what I want at the moment. Before getting distracted by this intense attraction I’m still feeling towards someone, I lost my focus on my new activities. I was so focused, and now this person caught almost all my attention.

You could try to intuitively understand what this situation means to you, what it is meant to teach you, and intuitively get the guidance to deal with it.

that’s what i’m struggling with. to know the difference between intuition, delusion, mental health problem, obsession, limerence, spell, etc. i’m open to all possibilities. i don’t want to blindly believe in something, to be sure of something without questioning. one thing is for sure though: if this person is provoking such intense feelings in me there is something i need to work on. but what exactly? that’s what i’m finding difficult to understand. it’s not clear what the universe wants from me. this current situation is a more intense version of what has happened in the past, it’s a repetition. that’s why i’m acting in an opposite manner this time. to see if this kind of thing stops happening to me. i truly believed it would never happen again, i thought i was over being like that. i was feeling centered and balanced. but it’s not easy to know what i’m supposed to do exactly: run away and ignore the signs and feelings or go after it? in doubt, i’m doing nothing. i believe doubting is a good sign that i’m still sane and not totally crazy.

Originally Posted by inavalan

You could try to intuitively understand what this situation means to you, what it is meant to teach you, and intuitively get the guidance to deal with it.