Don't Lose Focus

Several years ago, I remember sitting in my friend Rhonda's living room and we were having a serious conversation.  She was talking about her employment situation.  She was doing a job she loved but for an employer that didn't value her.  After doing the job for two years, she was still on term.  Worse than that, her term would end periodically and then she would be off work for two weeks and then be hired back on an indefinite term and the cycle would repeat.  It was difficult on her marriage and her pocket book to go on living like that.  She said very seriously, "sometimes I wonder how I am going to feed my children."

Although this was a serious statement, we both burst out laughing.  We started laughing until tears ran down our eyes.  The reason was that Rhonda's house was filled with food.  They had two full fridges in their kitchen.  They had one full freezer in the house and two full freezers occupying the garage.  Their pantry had been converted to a cool room where it stored fresh produce and an extra bedroom had been converted to a pantry. They were more well stocked that most grocery stores.  The children were not in any danger of starving.

The reason that they had so much food was because of her husband.  He grew up in poverty and went without food many times.  Not just an occasional meal, but several days at a time without food.  Every day he and his brother would come home and look in the house for something to eat.  More often than not they would be disappointed.  One day they came home from school and found ice cream.  They had never had ice cream before and started digging in.  They didn't realize until they finished that they had actually eaten baking lard.

He swore that if he was fortunate enough to have children of his own that they would never know food insecurity.  He actually couldn't sleep unless he was confident that if his kids woke up in the middle of the night hungry that they would find something to snack on.

As a child, he was wise beyond his years.  He never focused on his poverty, he focused on abundance.  He focused on that one day, he would have more food than he would need.  I should mention he was a skinny man, he did not over-indulge, he just liked having food around him should he want.  For him, not having worries about food made him feel financially secure and happy.

We all know people who grew up in poverty, made a fortune, but still were not happy.  The reason is that they focused on the poverty.  The fear of returning to that life closed their mind to other possibilities.  There were several stories in my home town of Ukrainian immigrants who grew up having nothing and when they passed, their relatives would find literal fortunes hidden in the mattress.  They were so focused on the poverty that they were afraid to spend.  Even though they had money, they were still frightened to spend and thus never releasing the bonds of poverty.

Of course, this generation doesn't view money the same way.  Our plastic society makes it pretty accessible to spend what you have not earned and Canadians are increasing their debt load at record rates.  My guess they are focusing on the debt and not the abundance they will have once the debt is gone.

It is only common sense.  When you focus on what you don't have, you lose focus on what you do.

Adopting a scarcity mindset limits your success. People who have a mindset of abundance, however, often see the possibilities within what they do and do not have access to. By embracing the possibilities within our circumstances, we are able to create, seize, and benefit from new opportunities.

It is not easy to let go of the past and it takes a leap of faith to focus on the future.  But, if you are able to focus on possibilities, you are able to see those possibilities that you may not have been aware existed.  Simply put, your ability to maximize your opportunities exist.

Just, don't lose focus.