Focus- A key to complete wellness. Part II

 

I received a text in the morning about Joe Biden who became president at the age of 77. His life has been a living example of tribulations and trepidations on a journey to path-breaking change.  What helps a person keep themselves focused or on track. What keeps a person going when all they want to do is give up? What makes a person persevere harder in wake of adversity?

Focus- An Emotional Healer

Life is a series of events and this year has managed to explain this in so many terms.  Let me share a case study of one of my clients. Renee (name changed) had joined work after a gap of 3 years and was very excited. The job was everything she had hoped for and more. She was settling in with the new schedule when suddenly she got the news that her parents were unwell and needed attention. She is now stuck, on one hand, she needs to give 100% to her new job but her family needs her.

These situations are very common. Just like Renne, all of us dabble with work-life balance; mostly making it a thing of choosing one thing at one point of time, rather than trying to step on two boats at one time.  How does focusing help in this turmoil when the dilemma is what to focus on?

There is no correct answer, but one that works for me is delegation, both in personal and professional worlds. No man is an island and neither are they superhuman. Look for tasks that can be delegated and focus on what needs your presence. Even if the task is daunting in terms of emotional investment, one needs to make choices more to do justice to one’s own responsibilities and oneself.

Focus- Spiritual Navigator

I am not comfortable with the word ‘spiritual’. I believe in something bigger than us, always have, but the concept of spiritual evades me. However, I saw a few journeys in recent times that made me question my scepticism and I recently might have become a believer in ‘spiritual’.  Back when we were growing up, we used the term religious for everything related to faith-based learning. However, the past decade or so has been signified the difference between religious and spiritual quite strongly. No matter, how people perceive the difference; I have seen the focus on the spiritual (religious) plane helping people to no end. A case study I would like to share to this effect is-

Pooja (name changed) lost her job along with some more team members after 25 years of dedicated service due to some change in management in her organization. She was caught in midst of a legal battle with her organization and at the end was fighting it alone. In that scenario,  she found solace in a spiritual path and joined a mission against family support. She focused all her negativity into the mission work and worked with full dedication.  I personally used to feel amazed at her dedication, especially in light of her circumstances. Her newfound focus was not just keeping her engaged, but making her faith in herself strong and most importantly was preventing her from self-sabotaging.

We all go these journeys, spiritual and emotional and learn to balance ourselves to look ahead at all times.  It is a matter of practice which in turn fills us with confidence and faith in ourselves.