focus | The Direction of Intention

Make It Ordinary

Posted on February 7, 2013 by davidrobinsoncreative

700. Join me in inspiring truly powerful people. Each day I will add a new thought, story or idea to support your quest and mine.

A midnight train, an early morning taxi, and a day at the Denver airport. Trains, planes and automobiles followed by a light rail into downtown Seattle and then a ferry to Bainbridge Island. I think in a single 24-hour period I will have only skipped submarine and hot air balloon as viable transportation options, though Judy reminded me that I had not yet traveled by camel. And, the day is not over yet so I knock on wood. These days I can make no assumptions about what the next moment will bring.

The benefit of riding on the rails, in the cab and on the concourse is that I’m very productive in transit. I’m a bit shocked at how focused I can be when rocking across Colorado in the dead of night or in the midst of thousands of noisy airport travelers by day. I finished the first true draft of the book. I caught up on emails (mostly). I untangled a banking knot, I made lists and all the while I watched the amazing dramas that unfold in an airport. I talked with Horatio and Diane and Megan. I had a text fest and toasted k.erle with a great cup of java. Judy played her harp for me just before midnight and it was among my favorite experiences all day.

I’m aware of the varied and glorious textures of this day. The amazing palettes of colors of this life are available if we only choose to see them. I saw the sunrise over the plains. I watched hundreds of small kindnesses and acts of generosity. Many were unknown to the recipient. A man pulled luggage off the train for an elderly couple. A woman quietly helped a young mother herd her children through security, doors were opened for baggage laden travelers, bus drivers waited for tardy riders, a barista left her post to give directions to a lost man and all the people queued for coffee stepped out of line to help.

And think about it – it was just a day like any other day. And, no day will ever be like this one. Little generosities swirl around us. The sunrise will never be the same as it was today; it was not like any other and the same will be true tomorrow. We have the capacity to see. We have the capacity to place our focus wherever we choose. The life we experience is a direct result of what we choose to see, where we choose to stand, how we choose to interpret and what we choose to celebrate. The day can be ordinary or extraordinary and the only difference is what we decide to perceive. Why not make the extraordinary ordinary?

Filed under: Gratitude, Perspective, Seeing, Truly Powerful People | Tagged: extraordinary, focus, generosity, perspective, seeing, sunrise | Leave a comment »

Walk Up The Hill

Posted on November 15, 2012 by davidrobinsoncreative

616. Join me in inspiring truly powerful people. Each day I will add a new thought, story or idea to support your quest and mine.

Saul-the-Chi-Lantern stopped in mid form; we were “grasping the swallow’s tail” when he turned and said, “There’s this thing about anger that is worth mentioning.” We relaxed from our practice knowing that Saul’s no-segue comments are always rich with meaning even if they often seem as perplexing as a Zen koan.

“Anger requires a certain amount of dedicated focus,” he said. “I used to work with troubled teenagers in San Bernardino and there were lots of kids dedicated to their anger.” He paused and seemed to be moving back into the tai chi practice but realized he had yet to complete his thought, so he turned again to us. “There was a really steep hill at the place where I worked and I learned early on that, if a kid was angry, I’d ask them to tell me what was making them angry. We’d walk up the steep hill as they talked and within ten paces they could no longer be angry. It was impossible to walk up that hill and keep a focus on the anger.” Saul smiled and continued, “It only took ten paces for them to put their focus on something else. And, after ten paces up the hill, their anger dropped away and then we could talk about what was really going on.”

He wrinkled his brow and continued, “Anger is good for knocking you off balance but not much else. And, you have to be really dedicated to sustain anger – which means your dedication in life is to sustaining anger and what good is that!” He laughed and stepped back into the form, muttering, “Who in their right mind wants to live off balance? It doesn’t make any sense to me.”

Filed under: Truly Powerful People | Tagged: anger, focus | Leave a comment »

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