Focus

All of us experience change on a regular basis. Change is neither, in and of itself, a good or bad thing, it simply is. There is an old saying (maybe Hindi) that you can’t step into the same river twice. The river has changed because it flows. Life also flows. Of course, while one’s life is constantly changing, much like a river if flows within certain boundaries. Those boundaries solidify and become more structured over time, both for rivers and for life.
The flow of our life, especially as we gain experience, tends to influence how we see things or react to things. If you think about it, what else could we base our judgments on? If we have experienced a lot of rejection in our life, we come to expect rejection. On the other hand, those who have experience success come to expect success.
There are some current “pop” philosophies that say our expectations can dictate our future. Simply get rid of the negative energy, focus on what you want and some mysterious force will deliver it to you. Now, I am not a believer it this mysterious force concept, but, having focus on what you want and maintaining that focus, probably does give you the best opportunity to get it. There are no guarantees and it should always be remembered that if 100 people try something like this, and 10 succeed, there is usually no hearing about the 90 that failed. These are not scientifically controlled population groups. The proponents of these philosophies deny there are any failures, arguing that they either didn’t focus their energies long enough, or that they will still get what they want.
It does seem clear that if you have a goal in mind and keep a focus on it, you will make decisions that help achieve that goal. Now, achieving most things requires effort and no amount of wanting to be a great musician will get you there unless you actually learn how to play and practice. However, if you have that focus and spend every free moment practicing as opposed to watching TV or going to the Movies, you will at least have a chance.