How to remember what you read (Part 3)

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Have Focus

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It is all right. We know you are engaged in business.

 

We know the weather is bad.

 

We understand you are hurt in that relationship.

 

It is no new knowledge-- your spouse puts you into some pressures.

 

“Economy is bad oo" We know. That one na traditional talk.

 

"My parents keep doing it the way I don't like" We understand

 

You see. All of this puts us into some overwhelming pressures and makes us lose focus on what we are reading.

 

Five minutes into that book, you remember the last hurting words of your girlfriend. Phew!  You throw away the book and begin to ponder on them.

 

Fifteen minutes into that book, you remember the promises of your boyfriend. And you begin to fantasize and mumble to yourself “I trust he will do it, and even buy those stuffs. I can't wait' Gbam. The focus is gone.

 

Twenty minutes into that book, you remember the demeaning words of your lecturer, teacher or friend, and you begin to mourn. Their opinions rank highest in your faculty. Soon, focus is dead; concentration gone.

 

Just a few minutes into that book and you remember the rebuking words of your Mama so loudly: " Every time reading reading reading!. Must you read every day? Come on, get out and face this work. Chinua Achebe!" And you begin to think you mustn't be a voracious reader to excel. Or you begin to feel hurt by the heavy words of your Mama. Chai! And you won't know how focus follow backdoor comot.

 

Few minutes into that book and you begin to remember your losses in business. Gbagam ! Alarm.  Focus is leaving

 

Few minutes into that book and you begin to remember your debts. Oh! How can I get away with this? Voom! Voom! Focus don comot.

 

Pause and reflect.

 

How long will you continue that way?

Is that how you will achieve success or greatness?

Listen and listen very attentively:

 

In order to achieve excellence in reading and understanding, you must understand that you are a thermostat, not a thermometer.

 

How do I mean? A thermometer reacts to the temperature and a thermostat controls the temperature.

You are responsible for how you react to events and happenings around you. Nothing can make you angry except you allow it.

 

No pressure is sufficient to make you lose focus of what you are studying as long as Mother Nature has authorized you with the unfailing power to control the way you feel. You are a thermostat.

 

When I tell people you choose the way you react to certain conditions, they, sometimes, misunderstand me.

"Damian, you won't understand. His words were heavy upon me" That is okay. It is normal. But you can choose not to be angry about it because you have the power to control your feelings.

 

"Damian, this is garbage. Stop this motivational thing. How can you tell me not to be angry when someone makes me angry?" Yes, I must tell you, because I know deeply you have the authority over your feelings. You are a thermostat.

 

Don’t take my word for it. Let’s remember what Emerson said: “What lies behind us and what lies before us are tiny matters compared to what lies within us”

 

So? Nothing, however hard, can disrupt your cool internal feelings unless you permit them. And thank God you have the power to starve anything not in alignment with the way you want to feel. You are a thermostat.

 

I hope you can see why we lose focus. We are much more concerned about what happens to us than how we can aptly solve the problem.

 

Someone who reads in a warm room can easily give an excuse: I can't concentrate here. The room is hot. I need a fan or air conditioner.

That is good. You need those things in your room but you can't afford them now. What can you afford? Handfan. Focus on it. While reading, fan yourself. But let me tell you, that may still not be enough; it may be another form of distraction.

 

Therefore,

 

You can do without the handfan. You can make your own weather. You can carry your own weather within and upon you --and affirm that the room is cool. As you affirm the coolness of the room and get lost in your reading, you will be surprised to know you didn't discover the hotness of the room while reading.

We ultimately own the key to our feelings. We should not be products of our feelings but “Decider of our feelings”

The student who can't read in his room but in the library only because of one excuse or the other, I am sorry to say---is a lazy student.

What distraction (s) can prevent you from reading in your room?

Let me guess,

Noisy roommates. "Haa.These people bad ooo. They can't let you read, rest or sleep"

I don't want to doubt that but I am here to tell you: they don’t have to let you read, rest or sleep but you make yourself read, rest or sleep even in the midst of their noise.

How?

You do it by first telling yourself the truth-- that you can control the noise by focusing on your reading. Once you concentrate and get lost in thoughts and imagination, you won't hear any noise outside the border of your thoughts--no matter how deafening. Let that small still voice of your thoughts reign and overnoise the outside. This requires practice anyway, but you can do it. (And remember, this is not to say you should be looking for where there is noise to read. No. But circumstances as such often come)

 

I once had a wrong belief that almost killed my creativity. I had this belief that I should not write anywhere except at home in the night or at dawn.

 

Until one day, not long ago, I challenged myself. I wrote in my workplace. I could not believe it. Amidst the commotion, my inspiration still flowed. Absolute concentration descended on me.

 

That was when I remembered what Shakespeare said: nothing is either good or bad but thinking makes it so. I thought it was bad to write in a noisy environment. How wrong I was. I didn't know I could control my reactions to the noise.

What are we saying? Focus is a choice.

Focus is a choice. Sing it until it sticks in your mind.

Sing along with me.

I choose to focus

I choose to focus

I choose to focus

To be continued.

Damian Chiemezie

Writer/ Transformational Speaker.

Bless you man!
This is inspirational

You are welcome

I choose Focus

I choose focus

I choose focused