Fix Your Focus
I have always believed that everything happens for a reason. That there is a purpose for everyone and that everyone has to go through something; some more than others, to get to their purpose. I didn’t always see this for myself; didn’t always see my purpose while going through the trials and tribulations I went through. Often, I got caught up in the darkness within and, of the storm, while trying to weather it. But even if it took a long time, I ultimately always came out of the storms of my life having learned important lessons and acquired crucial skills that I needed; for the next storm I would face, or to help others through their storms.
I didn’t always understand the reason for the storms but I survived them, and I came out of them, with the realization that the storms existed for a reason. I wasn’t sure what the reasons were, other than to help me get to my purpose. When I focused on the reasons though, I focused on the problems. You see, “reason”, is defined by Oxford Dictionaries, as “a cause, explanation, or justification for an action or event”. Whereas, “purpose”, is defined as, “something set up as an object or end to be attained”. Reason, is the justification for an event, whereas, purpose is the intended outcome; what the person inside the storm will be able to do once they finally get through the storm, or the storm, itself passes. When I got stuck on the reason for the storm, I spent too much time, justifying why I was going through the things I was going through. I focused on what each trouble was trying to teach me; hence, focusing on the trouble, itself. Instead, I should have been focusing on the intended outcome; the purpose of the storm, and of my purpose. I needed to fix my focus in order to find that purpose, and appreciate the storm for what it truly was; a test and a lesson of sorts.
Then I was given the revelation that everything had happened as it was meant to happen, and that these storms had existed to bring me to where I needed to be, with the tools that I needed to have, to do what I was meant to do. And, with that revelation, the understanding that the result is ultimately better than what existed before the storm, if and when I fix my focus on what matters most. That, I don’t have to like the circumstances, or understand them, to enjoy the result. I was given the clarity to see that revelation is more powerful than reason; and that realizing there is a purpose, is more important and more powerful than the storm, itself. That there will always be a light at the end of the proverbial tunnel, if you are willing and able to fix your focus on it.
I’ve also always believed, that the greater the challenges, the greater the purpose. That the bigger the storm, the brighter and bigger the light at the end of it. I’ve been through many storms, in my life; too many to list. So many, in fact that it’s amazing that I’ve survived this long. It’s amazing that I’ve found so much light within the darkness that I’ve experienced. I couldn’t have survived this much, however, without some kind of Divine intervention. I couldn’t have survived and weathered this many storms, were it not for the fact that there was a greater purpose for me. I wouldn’t have survived, had I not been able to fix my focus on this Divine purpose, instead of on the reason for the storm. I wouldn’t have survived had I not been able to realize that what has happened to me, has allowed me to either prevent others from going through the same, or to help them through the same or similar storms. That I went through the storms so that I could be an umbrella, a life raft or a guide for those going through their own storms.
That, I am not a victim of my circumstances; I am a weapon against the darkness. I am light for others, to help to guide them out of their storms. And, I am a tool to help them rebuild what the storm destroyed, or to build something new, in its place; something better.
After you have survived a storm, you need to find out why you survived. Like me, discovering that I survived in order to help others weather their storms. You have to realize that there is a reason for the storm and a purpose for your life. That you need to fix your focus on the purpose; both, to help you get through these storms and to help you uncover what that purpose is, after you have exited these storms. You have to fix your focus on the light that exists to illuminate this purpose; by living for the hope instead of focusing on the storm and what it destroyed. Focus on what a rebuild after the storm will look like, and how much better and clearer that will be.
To survive the storm and its aftermath, we need to fix our focus on hope, instead of doubt. To hope, is to trust. The opposite of hope, is doubt. To doubt, is to call into question, the truth. To doubt, is not to believe that things will work out; to believe that the storm will not pass, and that there won’t be light to guide you out of the storm, or tools to help you rebuild. To hope, is to believe that there IS a reason for the storm, that there IS a purpose for you; for us all. And, to trust, that there WILL be a light to guide us out of each of our storms, and that there WILL be tools to help us rebuild after each storm. When we survive these storms, we also need hope, to find out why we survived. We need to fix our focus on our purpose, instead of the reason; the light, instead of the storm, itself. We need to have faith; that everything happened as it was meant to happen, and that these storms existed to bring us to where we needed to be, with the tools that we needed to have, to do what we were meant to do.
That we are where we are supposed to be, and the what, why, when and how of it all, will be revealed to us, in the time. What matters most, is that we fix our focus on faith, hope and trust. Faith, that we survived for a purpose, hope that it will be revealed to us when it is meant to be revealed and trust that, the next storm we go through won’t be as difficult because we have fixed our focus. And that, just as others who've survived their own storms, exist to be a light to help guide us out of our storms, we exist to help them do the same. That, we can help others fix their focus so they can help the next one who passes through a storm; and so on, and so on, and so on.
Fix your focus, fix the focus of many. Save one person, and save many.