A Change of Focus

Today is the day that I choose to see the good in something - - even if it is one little thing.  In doing so, I am not ignoring the rest of life's problems, but instead I am changing my focus.

Think about a camera lens.  With a wide angle lens you can see a better glimpse of the whole picture:  a landscape, a building,  sunset over the ocean or a crowd of people.  With a zoom lens you can hyper-focus on something:  count the spots on a butterfly, see the wings of a hummingbird, count the freckles on your friend's face or see color that blended into the larger picture.

Life can get overwhelming when we continually use the wide angle.  Yet, if we use our zoom lens we can get so lost in the details and color that we forget our path or what we were looking at in the first place, so it can be equally confusing.  How do you look at things?  Do you stay in one angle?  What would happen if we were able to use both lenses to their full advantage?  Sometimes by zooming in on something in the picture we can see things we never dreamed were there.  In a difficult circumstance, is there a possibility that if one searched for something new, colorful, good, a speck of kindness, thoughtfulness or hope or light...that it might be found?  What would happen if a person focused on the good spot for a bit instead of the grand picture that might be overwhelming? 

Contrary to finding the positive, it is true that negativity is a lens that can be used anywhere, at any time and with anyone.  One thing to remember:  It's a choice to put on that lens.  At times it feels as if the negativity filter was already on the lens when we were born or woke up one day. I'm not so sure that is true.  Could it be there is a choice in life...to leave the negative filter on the lens of life or take it off and disregard it?

Which lens is helpful for you today? What about in this moment?  Is there a circumstance which needs a zoom lens in order to capture a good moment or discover something new?  Or do you need to put the wide angle lens on your camera of life in order to stop focusing so much on the details of your circumstance and view things from a larger perspective?  Gaining perspective helps us accept things and move onward in our journey of life.  It could help us find the good in our challenges or help us to see that larger picture just a bit clearer to gain understanding.