Learning From Your Infant

How Observing Your Growing Baby Can Teach You Focus.

by Lea Oglesby

I learn a lot from my baby. When I watch her grow, I grow. I grow in joy, love and wisdom.

It's possible to miss the sweet things in life because your mind is not in the moment. I play with my baby on the floor because she is becoming better at pulling herself up and finding little specks of randomness to stick in her mouth. The television alternates between her shows and my shows to keep both our moods in the right realm. The difference being, when she stops what she's doing to watch Elmo sing a song, she is simply taking a break from sucking on a pink octopus named "Pink". When I stop to glance at Ellen play a round of humdinger, I'm taking a break from watching my baby! There's an important difference there.

My baby's focus on the shelf below the TV, filled with things she's not supposed to have, is admirable. Everyday, without fail, four, five or six times a day she tries to see if she can get to it without Mommy picking her up and placing her at the far end of the blanket.

So, this is what I've learned about focus. First, get a focus. Second, aim all of your thoughts toward that focus. Do not let random toys get you distracted from the goal. Next, if at first, you don't succeed, welcome to the club. If you succeed the first time at everything, people will be annoyed by you. People like over-comers. We can apply this theory of focus to every area of our lives, taking baby steps at first, of course.

There are myriads of books written on goal setting. I say we should take a smaller step than to write down our goals. That will come later. First, just practice being 100% mentally present in your day. If you are in a conversation, listen fully. Don't be formulating your response before they finish their sentence. If you are alone, practice thinking in full sentences. Don't let your mind jump to a new topic until you've truly ended the first one. No matter what games your mind likes to play, whether it is Leap Frog or Twister, change the rules and make it play Simon Says.

When you focus your thoughts, you will find yourself calmer and more hopeful because you haven't allowed it to randomly run amuck in the forest of gnarly weeds of this world. Tend your mental, emotional and physical garden daily and it will feed you and your family.