Growth: Today’s Power Word

15 Kalimat 163 B.E. – July 27, 2006 A.D.

I’m subscribed to a yahoo prompt group called Daily Power Words (click on the title of this entry and it will take you to the website http://www.dailypowerwords.com). Every day Christine, the monitor of the group and the owner of the mentioned site, sends a word with two or three paragraphs of her thought about the word and a journal exercise. In addition, she sometime includes a saying by a famous person on the subject.

Today’s power word is growth. This subject struck a chord with me. Lately I’ve been excessively focused on the difficulties hindering me from achieving my goals, rather than on achieving the goals. I look at the goal, I look at the barriers between myself and the final outcome, I look at what I’ve achieved toward the goal, but I don’t think I’m focusing on the steps of achievement. Because of not focusing on the necessary steps, I haven’t accomplished much toward the final outcome. According to Christine it’s the achievement steps taken every day that allows us to grow and this is true.

I find the things that hold me down are focusing on the difficulties, on the perceived barriers coming between the goal and myself. If I focus on the walls preventing me from accomplishment, then I don’t make any progress, I don’t grow spiritually. Therefore, I need to change my focus. Rather than looking at the barriers before I get to them, I need to focus on the steps themselves. By paying attention to the steps, I don’t make the difficulties, the limitation, the barriers any more concrete or larger than reality. Often when I do get to the barrier I find it’s a speed bump rather than a wall or a rose bush instead of a towering hedge of thorns.

Now the question arises: How do I change my focus? My answer is prayer and meditation. First, let me say, I have no rituals when it comes to prayer and meditation. My prayers consist of those revealed by Baha’u’llah and the Bab, or written by ‘Abdu’l-Baha. My meditation is chanting the Most Great Name. Normally I don’t have a specific time of day to chant, however, I’m going to change that, I’m going to set a specific time of a morning to chant. Setting a specific time has nothing to do with rituals; it has to do with discipline. In order to grow spiritually a person needs discipline. That’s my first step in changing my focus. I know that others will follow, but one doesn’t reach the destination in one giant step. One reaches the destination after a journey of many steps.