Focus on What Matters Most – by Tom Carr

Every so often I’m reminded how lucky I am.  I have a wonderful, caring, loving wife.  We have 2 great sons, both of whom have graduated college.  They are also caring and loving people, and I’m happy to say I have strong relationships with both.  My wife and I both have good jobs, so we can pay the bills and do fun things once in a while.  We’re all healthy.

Is everything perfect?  No.  But I try not to get caught up in perfect.  When I focus on perfect, I think about what’s not right; I think inwardly.  I can feel bad for myself.  I know people who have better jobs, who make more money, whose kids are financially independent.  Do I want to trade places with them?  No, because they have struggles, too.  I might not know what they are, but I know they have them.  And the ones I have aren’t bad.

Many years ago, I heard a priest say in his homily, “If we all focused more on those who have less than we do, and less on those who have more than we do, we’d all be better off.”  How true is that!  There are so many more people who have less: less loving, less caring, less health, less security, less opportunity, less money.  And I don’t just mean less than I have; I mean less than almost all of us have. 

We are so blessed in this little corner of the world, but we don’t think about it most of the time.  I believe it’s so important to think about others and what we can do for them.  For people around us: Take the time to listen to them; spend time with them; take the time to pray for them; take the time to lighten their load in some way by doing them a favor; ask them how they’re doing and be interested in the answer.  For people who are distant from us: Take the time to read about them; learn what’s different and the same; donate to a cause that supports them.  I can promise you this: the more outwardly you focus, the happier you will feel inside.