In an age of information overload, it makes sense that the only way to counter overload is with focus. Information competes for attention. Focus hones the attention on what is important. But achieving this clarity and focus seems nearly impossible when everything around us is clambering for our attention.
I loved watching Marie Kondo, on Netflix. For those of you who have not watched it, it is a short series on how to de-clutter and how to store your earthly possessions in an organised fashion. I have always been a bit of a minimalist, preferring simple over ostentatious, preferring organisation over chaos. That does not mean I have always achieved it. What I have realised through the years though is that it sometimes takes a concerted effort to stand back, assess what is in front of you and manage the way forward, rather than being dragged or pulled.
The act of letting go is exactly what frees us. Whether it is in Marie Kondo style, of physical entrapment and possessions or emotionally as best described in the words of Nelson Mandela “Forgiveness liberates the soul. It removes fear.”
Letting go of tasks, of control, of the small stuff is essential for us to focus our attention on the big stuff. Or in some cases on what the big stuff could be. But that is a musing for a different day.
(c) Debbie Engelbrecht