One cannot collect all the beautiful shells on the beach, one can collect only a few. —Anne Morrow Lindbergh—
Our lives are a series of selections. We select projects to do, activities to participate in, friendships to cultivate. And often we’ll have to forego some of the selections we’ve made because time and energy run out. Full commitment, total involvement with singular activities and few friendships, is far better than partial attention to many.
Rapt attention to the moment and all of whatever it contains enriches our lives; nothing less than full attention can do so.The talents we each have been blessed with can only be developed if we use them fully to benefit the lives of others as well as our own. Thus, when our selections are vast, our attention is sporadic and our talents aren’t fully developed. The fullness of our lives individually and collectively is proportionate to the depth of the relationships developed between ourselves, our friends, and our activities.I can’t be everywhere today, Nor can I attend to the needs of everybody I meet. I will carefully choose where to give my attention and then offer it totally.