Painting by Belynda Wilson Thomas

Always remember, your focus determines your reality. George Lucas

On Friday, Canadians celebrated Canada Day and today Americans celebrate Independence Day. Celebrating brings us together because when we live in the same country we share many things, but it doesn’t mean we are alike in everything. We may think what divides us is more important than our shared history and values.

To have groups of people come together in one place and everyone see things the same way doesn’t seem likely. In our own families, brought up with exactly the same values and circumstances we don’t see things the same. Why do we think countries made up of individuals with different cultures, values, and priorities would all see things the same way or are even capable of understanding the other person’s point of view when they are so removed from the other person’s way of life?

I wonder if part of the problem is we are not focusing on what we have control of and instead want to focus on what other people should have control over. Some may think focusing on our life, family, and community is selfish, but it is also where we have an impact. Too often we focus our attention on things we have no control over and have no bearing on our lives. What if we brought our attention back to what is front and center in our lives?

If you focus on results, you will never change. If you focus on change, you will get results. Jack Dixon

It might be easier to spend endless hours discussing how contentious issues should be handled in a country where we have no impact than to talk about issues in our own lives and the lives of our families that need dealing with. How many important conversations are not being had about things we could change to make our own lives better, because we are talking about divisive politics, often not even in our own country?

What would it take to get our own house in order? What if we got rid of the distractions to focus on building the best life we can for ourselves, our families, our communities, and our countries? What if personal responsibility is the way to make every family, community, and country better? What can we do to make our lives better, not what we can point to that someone else should be doing? That is easy, and we all fall into seeing what someone else should be doing instead of what we should be doing, but there is no power in that. The power we have in life is focusing on the change we need in our own lives. If we aren’t getting what we want out of life do we need to change what we are focusing on?

The more you complain about your problems, the more problems you will have to complain about. Zig Ziglar

One way to boost our willpower and focus is to manage our distractions instead of letting them manage us. Daniel Goleman

Distractions disrupt progress and cancel out the power of focus. LeAura Alderson

Thank you for reading this post. I hope you enjoyed it. I hope you will come back and read some more. Have a blessed day filled with gratitude, joy, and love.

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