How a lack of focus leads to an illusion of happiness

Recently, I’ve been thinking a lot about how I use a lack of focus on little details as a coping mechanism to help myself feel better.

Focusing on the general “big picture” of life allows me to ignore the little details because it forces me to consistently live outside of the current moment.

This lack of awareness of the here-and-now gives me an illusion of happiness and safety. I don’t focus on any little thing in the current moment, so everything just seems easier to comprehend and absorb.

Why? Because those little details can be overwhelming, frustrating, hard to achieve… you name it. It’s just easier to look past them and pretend like they don’t exist.

While trying to understand my motivations behind perpetuating this phenomenon, I discovered the Ostrich Effect. Have you heard of how ostriches stick their heads in the sand to avoid danger? “If I can’t see it, I’m safe.” That’s what I’m doing too: avoiding little details and staying out of the current moment to help perpetuate an illusion of happiness and safety.

Over the past few years, I’ve learned how disheartening this process really is. I used to be so focused on my goals: I knew where I wanted to be and I knew what steps I needed to take to get myself there.

But then I got injured, and my plans had to change.

Through my recovery process, I had to really focus on the current moment and the little details that would help me get healthy again, both physically and mentally.

I had to overcome my persistent obsession with where I was supposed to be and what I wanted to achieve. I had to come face to face with what was making me unhappy during my recovery process: an overcoming obsession that made me forget to appreciate where I am because I was so focused on the “big picture” of where I needed to be.

After I took a moment to take a step back and analyze the progress toward my “big picture” goals, I realized that I wasn’t working towards something that actually made me happy anymore.

My actual happiness became my focus, not just the illusion.

Ostriches don’t actually stick their heads into the sand when they get scared. This is an assumption that got perpetuated because people weren’t focusing on an important little detail: what were ostriches actually doing when they put their heads down by the sand?

Don’t just believe an assumption. Even your assumptions. I encourage you to step back and look at the little details. Challenge yourself to find true happiness, not just the illusion.