A scientist marvelled at how a seemingly harmless magnifying glass could create
such intense heat, when the suns rays passed through its glassy surface. He
asked the magnifying glass, "How can you do what you do? You have this
incredible ability of tapping into the rays of the sun. You then take those vast
rays and bring them to a powerful point that burns holes in leaves and sheets of
paper." The magnifying glass replied to the scientist by saying, "Well sir, I
have learnt this one thing throughout the years. The hotter it gets, the more
focussed I become."
That is what gives the winner in life their greatest advantage.
THE HOTTER IT GETS, THE MORE FOCUSSED THE WINNER BECOMES.
Winners have become tough because they have been through tough times. Winners
become strong because they have replaced their weaknesses with newfound
strengths. Winners appreciate what it takes to win, because they know what it is
to have tasted the bitter taste of defeat and yet have risen once again. Winners
have known what it is to be in the heat of battle, and yet they know that when
all else seems beyond their grasp, the very worst thing that could ever happen
to them would be for them to lose their focus.
However, for those who choose to lose . . .
DISTRACTION IS THE LOSERS COMPANION.
Losers allow themselves to be moved by circumstances. They are like a ship
without an anchor and are tossed to and fro by whatever storm decides to head
their way. They flit from here to there and back and forth with no plan in mind,
no dream in their heart and no hope of ever seeing a change in their
circumstances. They are locked into a state of never ending misery.
The winner, on the other hand, no matter what is happening around him or her at
the time, has deep within their heart a dream, a goal or some purpose that is
far bigger than what they are presently experiencing. It provides them with
clarity. It gives them the courage to push through. It guides them, leads them,
directs them in the decision making process. It brings a smile in the sadness
and sunshine in the storm. It allows the winner to make sense of the tragedy or
the disappointment and allows them to reset themselves so that if they ever
stall or become bogged down, they can go again. It can be summed up in one word,
and that word is FOCUS.
A bunch of prisoners decided that they were going to break out of jail, so that
they could all spend Christmas with their families. So they devised a plan. The
plan was this: to construct a tunnel that would take each and every one of them
under the prison wall and out to freedom. All went well in the ensuing months.
The tunnel was built and none of the prison officials detected a thing. It was
finally Christmas Eve and the prisoners had decided that they would break out
when all was dark and quiet that night.
Unfortunately, one of the men "lost it." He had waited for so many years to get
out of prison, that when he knew that the time was drawing near, he suddenly
snapped and decided that he couldn't wait any longer. Without warning, he pushed
everybody aside and raced down and through to the end of the tunnel. Before
anyone could stop him, and to everyone's horror, he had pushed up and through
the opening on the other side of the wall.
Now there were two immediate problems. One, it was in the middle of the day in
broad daylight and two, whoever had designed the tunnel had miscalculated
somewhat. The escaped prisoner was not standing in the middle of an open field,
but rather in the middle of a preschool with preschool children running all
around him.
But unperturbed, his excitement overflowed to the point that he cried out in a
loud voice, 'I'm free, I'm free, I'm free!'
Well, this prisoner was surely a sight for sore eyes. He had dirt all over his
clothes, grass sticking out of his mouth and a clump of mud stuck to the top of
his head. Once again he cried at the top of his voice, "I'm free, I'm free, I'm
free!"
A little girl wandered over to where he was yelling and looked at him with a
stern look that only a little girl can give. She promptly put her hands on her
hips and looked straight at the man, who at that point had his mouth wide open.
In a loud booming voice she responded to the prisoners cry, 'So what, I'm four!'
The moral of this little story? Whatever you do, don't lose focus.
IF YOU LOSE FOCUS YOU'LL BE BLINDED TO THE TRUTH.
And what is that truth? The truth is this: that no matter what you experience in
life, if you maintain a fixed focus on your dream and on the pursuit of your
goals and on your destiny, you will burn a hole in whatever stands in the way of
you experiencing the success that you most richly deserve.
You were born to win. In order to achieve victory, understand that there may
need to be a fight to achieve it.
Focussed people see the good when others see the bad. They see the opportunity
when others see disaster. They buy when others sell and sell when others buy.
They watch others being carried by the tide and then swim the other way. They
are winners and leaders because they live not by circumstance but by their
inward focus. This is what sets them apart from the masses and it is this that
others admire and at times misunderstand the most.
Motivational Memo for the Week: A blind man with focus can see better than a
man with perfect sight, but yet has no vision.
You can do it!
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