Focus and Attitude Percentage

     Focusing can be difficult, at least for me.  Often, I feel like I have a short attention span.  Or maybe it's just hyper attention, if there is such a thing. Like a circuit, my brain is pulsing and firing multiple thoughts fleeting in many directions.  For example, as I sat reading this morning, I looked up at the front door and thought about how I needed to paint it... which lead me to think about how dirty my floors are and how I need to sweep again.... then I thought about how my broken kitchen chair needs replacing.  STOP!!!!  I tell myself.... Focus!  So, back to reading, which I eventually accomplished.  Whew! All because I wanted to read?  Maybe if I work on the door, the chair, the floor - then just maybe I can focus if those distractions do not exist. Or will there be something else to distract me?  And I don't have small children, so what's the big deal?
     I think it's the discipline part of focusing which is as equally difficult for me... making the conscious effort to follow through or to divert if need.  To refrain, to initiate.  Ultimately I realize, it's self-control and attitude.  So my attitude tells me, no matter how my circuit functions, as long as it functions rationally and with love.  Everything will not always be accomplished in one hour, one day, one week, one year.  It is more necessary to stop and breath in the fresh air, or watch the rain, or sit on my porch for a spell and just be still and feel God sooth my soul. This brought me back to a piece that I like to read as a reminder to myself. It is called "Attitude Percentage," by Chuck Swindol.  I hope you enjoy it.


     "The longer I live, the more I realize the impact of attitude on life.  Attitude, to me, is more important than education, than money, than circumstances, than failures, than success, than what other people think or say or do.  It is more important than appearance, giftedness, or skill.  It will make or break a company...a church...a home.  The remarkable thing is we have a choice everyday regarding the attitude we embrace for that day.  We cannot change our past... we cannot change the fact that people act in a certain way.  We cannot change the inevitable.  The only thing we can do is play on the one string we have, and that is our attitude... I am convinced that life is 10 percent what happens to me and 90 percent how I react to it.  And so it is with you... we are in charge of our ATTITUDES."