Member-only story
A Matter of Focus
My childhood was not one that most would seek to endure and my adult life has been more than amply endowed with losses that have wounded me deeply. When things are going badly it would be all too easy to focus on the precariousness of my life and on the many times when kindness and care has been repaid with hostility and betrayal.
Yet I’ve also been fortunate enough to have received totally unimagined gifts of love and kindness. I’ve learned that one must love without expectation or hope of return, simply because it’s a more positive position than one of emotional parsimony. Sometimes, magically, love is returned. But even when it is not reciprocated, being able to love freely makes the world a little lighter and easier to bear.
My sixty years on this fragile little planet that we so foolishly take for granted has shown me that each moment is precious and should whenever possible be savored. That’s why I don’t own a television, have zero interest in the transient ephemera of pop culture, and prefer to be out-of-doors than to sit slumped on a sofa. I’ve learned that for those of us fortunate enough to have (at least for the moment) a roof over our heads and sufficient food to eat, life is often a question of focus.
Those irritating team mates at work: do we really have to care so much about them? That unfortunate incident with the manager: is it really something…
