Focus does not mean we should be serious! - Nibbrati Rathore

“Focus is essential to achieve your desired goal”- a commonly heard statement used by almost every other person at some point in their life.

 

“Sit quietly and focus on the activity” another widespread instruction given by a teacher in the classroom setup.

As a teacher and a parent myself, I believe sitting at a place is the most difficult task for a child. And we commonly perceive that the one who can’t sit at a place can’t focus. 

I would like to disagree with this notion and present my thoughts on it: 

I believe there are many misconceptions surrounding focus. These misconceptions often lead people to have a misinformed perspective on focus, thus making it difficult to adopt as a possible quality to cultivate in life. I’ll pick a couple of them and hope to eliminate these misconceptions here.

During a regular class, we essentially wish that our children only follow us with all their senses. We wish to have a classroom where: 

1. Children sit attentively and do not ask unnecessary questions
2. Children complete their work on time and do it neatly
3. Children understand all that is taught in just one go 
4. Children do not disturb the class
5. They remain seated during the class

A perfect classroom to many is synonymous with “NO NOISE.”

Look at the following picture and reflect:

 

1. Are these kids not focused on listening to their teacher?
2. Are they distracted?
3. Why are they listening to this teacher?
4. How this teacher has caught the attention of all 5 kids at the same time?

The answers to these questions can perhaps change one’s perception of focus.

We often confuse focus with discipline. Let’s see “What, the focus is not”.

Focus is not the absence of joy- Focus for most people is an image or a video of someone concentrating on reading a book or a tennis player focused on waiting for his opponent to serve the ball to him. Eyes locked in on the subject of focus. An absorbed and highly attentive look across the face with the forehead slightly cringed. Also, we’ve all seen a video or more of a girl running carefree through the forest or on a beach, arms stretched out to the side, embracing the wind blowing through her and on her face. She looks like she is not concentrating. When you see this video, you think to yourself, "She’s free. That's what I want. I don't want to be so focused that I can’t enjoy life." Let’s not make learning a similar experience.

 

 

I believe that a person can be most focused when he/she is enjoying. Imagine how you remember every detail of a party that happened a few months ago, or the scenes of a movie, not to forget the educational trips and the school annual days. You remember every detail of these events because you had a great time, and that’s what focus means. As a teacher and parent, it’s high time we reset our expectation.

“Focus simply defined is the ability to stay engaged with who or what you are within unbroken continuity”.

Focus doesn’t mean being stressed - Another common misconception is that if I am focused, it means I am not relaxing. Has it ever happened to you that you are reading your favourite book sitting on a recliner? And when your mom asks you didn’t answer the doorbell, you say, “I didn’t hear it.”

Here you were focused and relaxed at the same time. On the contrary, when you cannot focus, it takes a lot of effort to focus, and this act is not relaxing indeed. Hence, so many people think focusing is exhausting and not relaxing because all these people can’t focus.

  

The bottom line is that: the state of focus results in greater joy because you can better experience the things and people that you love.

When we can develop a love for ourselves and the subject, focus automatically comes into the picture. 

Now, look at the first picture again.

1. Do you think the teacher and students have a strong connection?
2. Do you think that the students would be focused in her class and love learning what she teaches?

If it’s “YES”, then the key here: the day you start enjoying a task, it means you have attained focus in it. So let focus seep in automatically and make our journey of learning a joyful experience. 

 

 That is living a full life!

Nibbrati Rathore is an educator at the Gyanshree School, Noida

She is a Life Members and volunteer on the National Training Team of Learning Forward India.

You can join Learning Forward, find out more at 

www.SchoolEducation.com.

Simplicity and Trust - Swabhi Parmar

Living simply entails stripping away the nonessential and focusing your time and energy on the things that matter the most. When you simplify, you’re left with a life filled with meaning, a life that is lived on your own terms. You have the time and space to pursue your interests and to create the life you truly desire. If you are simple in your life then you tend to have more opportunities in life. You can make your life simpler when you have the ability to make simple decisions. A simple person usually wins the trust of any person in any situation. A simple individual can be a trustworthy person. So these two values have a special meaning in life. 

It is often in the most simple things that we find true happiness. Living a simple lifestyle allows you to see the reality of the situation more easily. Your mind is less stressed because it has less to worry about. It is easier to make a wise decision when you know your principles in life. You only say yes when you can and firmly say no when you can’t or don’t want to. It’s easier to focus on the other person when your life is simpler.

The interaction is also sincerer since you’re free of the need to impress them. Choose people in your life whom you can really trust. If the level of trust is low in a relationship or organization, people limit their involvement and what they are willing to do or share. They might think to themselves, “This is all you deserve,” or, “This is as all I am willing to give.” In contrast, when the trust level is high, people reward it by giving more. But, more often than not, people feel that their distrust is not safe to share. So a leader or loved one may be slow to discover that they have lost a person’s trust. 

To be effective, a leader must earn the trust of his or her constituents to ensure their participation and allegiance. Indeed, any successful relationship — whether it’s the leader to follower, consultant or coach to the client or the relationship between spouses, siblings and friends — relies on a level of trust that must be earned. Yet even trust that is earned can be quickly lost and cannot be quickly regained. If members of a team or relationship lose trust in each other, it takes a great deal of work to restore it. People are not quick to reinvest in a relationship where trust has been broken. They generally move on. So yes, trust can be blended with simplicity. If you have simple desires and choices in life then you have the power of controlling your lifestyle, expenses etc and you can be a great partner in a relationship with anybody in the course of life.

- Swabhi Parmar, The Fabindia School

Positive Thinking - Richa Solanki

Our brain has millions of thoughts per day in that some are negative and some positive but this both thoughts impact differently in our life. Positive thinking means much more being happy or displaying happy things and a better attitude. Positive thoughts can actually create real value in your life and help you build skills that make you smile. The impact of positive thinking on your work, your health, and daily lifestyle will change your life and your thoughts. But on the other side, negative thoughts narrow your mind and focus your thoughts.

For example, we all are fighting with the current situation of quarantine because of Coronavirus, in this our emotion might consume you to the point where you can't think about anything else. Or, when you are stressed out about everything you have to get done today, you may find it hard to actually start anything because your thoughts are being negative towards the situation. So, if we are positive, good energy will be consumed in ourselves. All you think about is how little willpower you have, how you’re lazy, and how you don’t have any motivation. In other words, when you are experiencing positive emotions or thoughts like joy, happiness and love, you will see more possibilities in your life. These proved that positive emotions broaden your sense of possibility and open your mind up to more options. The positive thoughts of emotions with play and joy prompt the child to build skills that are useful and valuable in everyday life also in current situations to fight with corona. We can increase positive thinking by meditation, playing, writing and the things which make our mind peaceful and far from negative thought.

Richa Solanki
The Fabindia School