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The ability to focus on something is not a new revelation. In fact even though most people never put it into action, they know about it. For most of my life I knew that to achieve my goals I had to be focused. Did that help me at all? To be honest, no not really. I still managed to just sort of drift along for over twenty years. Oh sure, there were activities and times where I was giving it all I could, and more. Yet those pale in comparison to everything else.

When I was younger I moved a lot. Even now that holds true you could say. I also felt out of place because I was always the new guy. I didn’t have very much money, I didn’t dress very well and I was going through the awkward stages of puberty. It wasn’t until I hit the 7th grade that I found my outlet. The activity that probably helped mold me in all facets of my mind and life. Basketball.

Basketball?!!?? What?!? Are you telling me that such a simple sport can change a person? Well duh. That is exactly what I’m telling you. Basketball and all the aesthetics of the sport consumed me from the time I was 13 until 23 or 24 years old. To me it’s a beautiful sport, its a team sport that has plenty of room for the individual. The game can be played in near limitless variations. It also spans across language, racial, and gender barriers. A simple sport you say? Hardly.

As a way out of my troubles, I spent nearly 10-12 hours a day playing every day throughout middle school. My mind and body began to grow, my confidence increasing. My happiness and comfort around my peers and others began to shine. One of my most dear memories was when finally, finally, at the community center near my family’s apartment, I was able to consistently dunk at the 8 1/2 hoop. Oh yeah, I smashed the hell out of those things. By the time I was 14 I had a 36 inch vertical, straight up. When I was 16 I could dunk on a 10 foot hoop as long as it was a tip dunk or alley oop. My hand eye coordination improved, my health and strength increased. I was distracted from the humdrum of life. I was almost a happy kid.

I say almost because there were still lots of issues and obstacles in my life. Just like many of you. At this time though I was focused on something. That focus was basketball. So for a few years I was all good to go. I was a very good player. Popular around the way, and no matter what trash people talked, they respected me on the court, or they paid for it. Pure and simple. This was especially fun for me being a little guy of 5′7 1/2. That half is important!

Now here’s the thing. It may seem like I’m a bit distracted from my own post, yet theres a point to it all. I could go on a long time talking about all my basketball stories, from the street games in Seattle to my games overseas in the Philiipines, but what’s important is that I could always focus on the game. I’ve always been able to to give it my 100 percent every time. No matter what. It gave me direction. Even though it’s a game that has set rules and boundaries, there are countless variations as I said earlier. This is important.

In life there are rules, there are boundaries, yet like basketball, there’s limitless variations on how you can play the game. To put it more aptly, you can choose how to play the game, and how to live your life. You just got to focus. I know theres something that each and every one of you do and you can just do it easily. Whether you think you’re focused or not. Either you have a latent ability for it, or you trained yourself. Both ways work just fine in my opinion.

Right now I’m focused on building my life. My blog slogan is more then a catchphrase, it’s the embodiment of what I’m about. It took awhile to decide on it. It’s simple yet effective and expressive. There are so many people out there with ideas, dreams, goals, but lack direction. They’re unable to focus properly because their vision is clouded by the struggles of their existence. Here’s a small bit of advice; practice focusing your attention on the small details of your life. As you concentrate on one small thing after another, you will build yourself up. Before you even realize it, you’ll be tackling the “major” issues of your life without even noticing you’re already knocking them down.