"Your focus determines your reality" -Jedi Master Qui-Gon Jinn
"Remember, concentrate on the moment. Feel, don't think. Trust you instincts" -Jedi Master Qui-Gon Jinn
"Remember, concentrate on the moment. Feel, don't think. Trust you instincts" -Jedi Master Qui-Gon Jinn
Now before you, my dear reader, begin lampooning me as the King of Nerds for quoting Star Wars (even worse, quoting from Star Wars: The Phantom Menace), please allow me to explain why this quote has made an impact on me. Star Wars has been an almost ever present part of my life. I grew up with the Original Trilogy, I would clean my room as young child so that I could have a space to lie down on when I put my Star Wars Episode VI: The Return of the Jedi VHS into the VCR that sat in my room. Something about the saga captured the attention of my mind. Needless to say I was excited out of my mind when, in 1999, Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace came out. Even though for my fans of the franchise it lacked what they had waited for for so long I loved the movie. I loved the battle sequences, as a child the massive armies were huge to me and filled my eyes with delight.
Now I'm older and I still am a huge fan of Star Wars, although the battle sequences are spectacular to me still I've found something else for me to enjoy in the story. You'd be surprised how much wisdom exists within those six films (seven, if you are among the fans who count The Clones Wars movie, which I happen to do). My favorite bit of wisdom, however comes from The Phantom Menace. Many of you will be surprised that wisdom can be found in the same film as Jar Jar Binks,but as I've grown up I've found this one line by Jedi Master Qui-Gon Jinn to be one of the most influential lines from film I've ever heard. Before departing to return to Naboo for a final confrontation with the Trade Federation Qui-Gon Jinn takes young Anakin aside and says "Remember: Your focus determines your reality".
I have never been one who throws himself down at the feet of those self-help gurus who always proclaim the power of positive thinking. For some reason I always found it sickeningly optimistic. However within the past year of my life I have had many hard times. There are times that I fail to live up to the expectations of others. There are times I fail to live up to my own expectations. There are times when it seems everything around me seems to go wrong. There are even times when those I care about go through hard times and I feel powerless to help.
That last bit is especially hard. For some of them I know exactly how they feel. I feel the same loss and hopelessness because, at one point in my life I was lost. I do not want to come off as a self-proclaimed savior, because I'm not, But I know from my own experience that when tough times come when we focus on it they just get tougher. Focusing on things makes them a bigger part of your life. When I am so taken in by a good book the world fades from around me because that's where my focus is, this has happened with only a few books so far Ready, Player One by Ernest Cline is one that I would highly recommend, but I digress.
Concentrating on the here and now is also important. Looking far into the future is good but it should not be our focus. The future is ever changing based on the choices we make and the choices of others around us. By looking too much into what the future might hold we risk creating what I call Fear Fantasies. In these Fear Fantasies we look at every possible outcome we can see, and all the ways it can go wrong. We try to manipulate the future in our favor and by so doing we inadvertently bring about the very future we tried to avoid because we never existed where we were, when we were.
I'll simply close this ramble by immortalizing my father on the internet (through something other than pauldone.com) by relaying something he would always say to me.
I have never been one who throws himself down at the feet of those self-help gurus who always proclaim the power of positive thinking. For some reason I always found it sickeningly optimistic. However within the past year of my life I have had many hard times. There are times that I fail to live up to the expectations of others. There are times I fail to live up to my own expectations. There are times when it seems everything around me seems to go wrong. There are even times when those I care about go through hard times and I feel powerless to help.
That last bit is especially hard. For some of them I know exactly how they feel. I feel the same loss and hopelessness because, at one point in my life I was lost. I do not want to come off as a self-proclaimed savior, because I'm not, But I know from my own experience that when tough times come when we focus on it they just get tougher. Focusing on things makes them a bigger part of your life. When I am so taken in by a good book the world fades from around me because that's where my focus is, this has happened with only a few books so far Ready, Player One by Ernest Cline is one that I would highly recommend, but I digress.
Concentrating on the here and now is also important. Looking far into the future is good but it should not be our focus. The future is ever changing based on the choices we make and the choices of others around us. By looking too much into what the future might hold we risk creating what I call Fear Fantasies. In these Fear Fantasies we look at every possible outcome we can see, and all the ways it can go wrong. We try to manipulate the future in our favor and by so doing we inadvertently bring about the very future we tried to avoid because we never existed where we were, when we were.
I'll simply close this ramble by immortalizing my father on the internet (through something other than pauldone.com) by relaying something he would always say to me.
"Be where you are, when you are there" -Paul M. Done
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