Have you been sick before? Even if you have not, at least you have seen a sick person & can relate to the pain and agony.

When you were sick, what was your prayer or most fervent wish? For most of us, the desire to get well was the most important thing, the only player we had. We may have had business and family concerns, work or other engagements, but to get well was the most important thing to us, our only prayer point. And then what happens? We focus all our actions on getting well.  What we eat, when we sleep and every other thing that we did was all geared toward getting well & strong again. And soon enough our focus pays off – We are well & we are happy.

Unfortunately, the next moment we are back into the rat race & begin to pursue a million things at the same time. We want this, we want that, in fact, we want everything. We hardly get to focus on anything like we did when we were sick and wished to be well only.

It does appear that if we focused on just one thing at a time we will make more progress than we currently do. So the question is: what one thing can you focus on that can be most beneficial to you just as when you focused on getting well?

During COVID-19 restrictions, we were limited in the things we could pursue. Some people were just concerned with the food they needed. Many people clearly saw the futility of endless pursuits but right now we are back to the grind. So the big question is: What one goal can you focus on that can satisfy you? What goal can summarise all that you embody? What can you make your prayer point?

I have given great thought to that & my current focus is ‘To use my time well’. The only thing I ask God for, the only thing I’m pursuing is ‘to use my time well’.  Just like the man who is sick knows that when he gets better he will be ok, I believe that if I use my time well I would meet all my goals with God, with my family, with my congregation, at work & all other aspects of my life. So I pray to God to help me to use my time well.

To use my time well means that 1st, I have decided on what a good use of my time is & 2nd, I am always conscious of what I am doing & ascertaining that it is the best possible use I could muster. I already have plans of what I wish to do & when to do them. So the prayer & focus is ‘Do what I say I’d do when I say I will do them’.

There are several other things one can focus on. You may focus on ‘getting wisdom & applying that wisdom constructively’ in your life. You may want to do ‘something that benefits mankind every day’. ‘Make your younger self happy’; ‘Be pleasing to God’; ‘pursue excellence’, etc – the list is endless!

I think we can be more successful in life if we focused on one or just a few things in life – that is a lesson I get from when I am sick & is focused only on getting well. This rat race isn’t getting us anywhere, it is time to get focused, achieve & move to other things. Everything has to rotate around a central theme. No more discordant tunes for me.

What about you? Can you find just one thing that if you focused on will give you success in most or all aspects of your life? Feel free to try the ones I listed above & see wonders in your life. Let’s go!

Picture credits: Cover – https://www.insocialwork.org/the-perspectives-approach-to-treating-mental-illness/; Sick: https://www.washingtonpost.com/national/health-science/severe-morning-sickness–known-as-hg–can-leave-women-starving/2017/03/10/2ebbdaa4-ecad-11e6-9662-6eedf1627882_story.html, Happy person – https://wisdomfromnorth.com/how-i-became-the-happiest-person-i-knew/; Rat race – https://liz-griffin.com/blog/are-you-stuck-in-the-humanitarian-rat-race/; Focus to win – https://visfinder.com.ng/staying-focused-2/