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A couple of years ago, I went through a very stressful time in my life, and became very careless with my diet and exercise regimen, and ended up gaining about 25-30 lbs. Now as a professional dancer, that
might as well have been 50 or 60 lbs.! During that time, I of course was
not happy with the condition that my body was in, however, it took a
while for me to get to the point where, it was time to wake up and make a
change. Mastering the power of focus is part of what got me out of the
rut that I was in.

This article is Part 2 in the, "Mastering the Power of Focus" Series, and I'd like to share with you how focusing can help you overcome challenges you may face with your health and wellness.

When it comes to your body, we all know that we need to "eat healthy and exercise regularly". But what happens when life takes over? Maybe you're stressed because of financial problems, or trouble in your
relationship or marriage. What if you, your child, or a loved one, is
sick, and the emotional stress is taking its toll on you? You see where
I'm going with this. Eating healthy and exercising regularly isn't
necessarily as easy as it sounds under these types of circumstances. We
must, however, put things in perspective.

I would say that, to master the power of focus, you need to realize/do three things:

1) Understand that the power of focus lies in your hands. You choose what you focus on. You can focus on your circumstances, or focus on God. Focus on the positive or focus on the negative. Therefore, it
can work for you, or against you. Focusing is an action word, a verb, a
decision, and it is crucial in your daily life. If you'd like to lose
weight, you must focus on that vision of your physical self, and your
life, once you are in a healthy place again, and nothing else. This will
allow you to overcome the junk food temptations that you are confronted
with everyday, because your focus is on your goal. The list goes on...

2) Set goals, focus on them, and begin crawling towards them. I use the word "crawl" because it's usually the little steps that we take each day that make the most difference. It's unbelievable to me how
much we can accomplish, or change in our lives by doing, or not doing
something, once or twice a day. Take time to meditate or go for a walk
for just 5 or 10 minutes, in the middle of the day, and see how
differently you feel. Choose to stop working from home at 8 pm every
night, and watch how much more relaxed, happy, and productive you will
be throughout the day. The same goes for going to sleep 30 min. or 1
hour earlier than normal. Figure out what will work for you, and do it
today!

3) Your thoughts become actions, and your focus begins in your own mind. Are you a negative thinker? Do you always see the glass as half-empty? Well, if you focus on the negative, then that's what you'll
always get. Choose to be positive and see the positive in people and
situations. That way, negative people or occurrences (although they will
come) won't sway your new-found mastery of focusing on the positive and
what you want.

And by the way, no one ever said that this would be easy. But, it's crucial to be actively controlling and streamlining what you focus on from day to day. Otherwise, your mind will be controlled by your
circumstances, and by what others say, do, or think, and believe me, you
don't want that! :)

To Read more from my blog, go to, http://danceprosusa.wordpress.com

Stay tuned for Part 3......