Be AWARE or Beware of Your Focus
Be AWARE that your focus is, by definition, and for the most part all you can see. I am an aortic dissection survivor. After countless interviews with other survivors I have found an extreme AWARENESS, or focus on survival following this life threatening event.
Our stories are very similar. Most of us are very lucky to be alive, and by some miraculous experience we still are! For that reason alone we seem to have an AWARENESS of death, dying and life that others may never quite understand, and with it, a laser focus on survival.
In combat this focus is essential for some positions, like snipers. The sniper must focus on their target and nothing else, sometimes for days on end. The precision with which they focus defines their success.
Although perfect for initial healing and concentrated recovery, this pinpoint laser focus may be all we see. In self-defense we also need a “big picture” AWARENESS, or wide focus to determine what is happening on a busy city street, or dark parking lot. Being AWARE is the number one priority in self-defense. This big picture AWARENESS will save your life.
In Life Defense we draw from principles found in self-defense. Why? Because principles of conflict never change. Being AWARE is a good example.
Surviving death long enough to write or speak these words took extreme laser focus. Without laser focus you wouldn’t be reading or hearing any of this. And, to live on I’ve got to focus on the things that have gotten me this far.
However, if I remain laser focused on my near death experience staring at my little brown bottle of little white pills, or find myself telling “that story” several times a day, am I truly living? For me, it was deciding to live my life and not my disease that changed everything!
I am AWARE now of the big picture of life and living! Do I still think about it? Yes. Do I still wonder when I’m going to die? Not as much these days. I had to Be AWARE of my focus. The kicker for all of this, and the single best cure for all of it was assisting others to do the same, meaning to “live their life and not their disease!”
The simple truth is that no one knows how long they have to live. So, here’s my new AWARENESS and focus…”Every moment not living is a waste of time. I vow to live as long as I live, as BIG as I can, and save the dying for later!”
Allen Hughes
Life Defense Evangelist
