Could it rightly be said that small things can hold the potential for a major shift?  It is possible that you already understand the possibilities.  It is possible, you have seen by way of observation, or experienced in your life when such a thing happens.  A very simple, innocuous-seeming conversation, reading a passage in a book, coming across a detail that has always existed but simply not paid attention to – all of these can become the cause of a breakthrough.  In calling something a breakthrough, one should still be modest.  There have been breakthroughs which simply did not yield any great accomplishments.  The breakthrough happened and then, old habits and ways of thinking, old attitudes worthy of being discarded continued to exercise a restraining pull.  Unless some foundational changes take place and the breakthrough is deep, it is not lasting.  To adjudge if a breakthrough is truly significant, one cannot rely upon outside observers.  It is a realization and that depth of the realization is seldom accurately known by outside observers as it is by the one who experiences it.  Observers only come later, by the time the evidence of the change has started to show above the surface.

Attention is what grows an idea within

There is no shortage of ideas today.  Is that an understatement!  Without any exaggeration, it is possible to say without thought, there is an overwhelming abundance of information.  Much repetition exists, and in those certain ideas keep coming back, broadly to be divided into groups of good and evil for simplicity.  As the two of these merge, a new realm is created where the division isn’t absolutely clear.  Much of mankind today lives in this realm of a new reality, although artificially the distinction of pure goodness and pure evil are created and so are the criteria for them.

So, even where these clear distinctions are not made, one must focus on one idea.  It is not to man’s favor that too many ideas be occupying the mind when one is to choose a goal and then pursue it.  For this reason, there has to be a devotion of time and undivided attention to choosing the goal in the first place.  In a lifetime of a few years, a man only gets one real chance.  And even while the eventual failure of all of the human endeavors is before us – there isn’t anything lasting a human may build that will stay – to live a life of purpose, one of satisfaction, one of contentment, a man must choose.  Is it art, is it science, is it building chairs, is it cooking food, is it travel, writing, physical development, or spiritual pursuits – attention is a must!

A pursuit for greatness, the attention toward consequences

The great men and women we recall from history (names left entirely up to the reader’s choice) had one thing in common.  It was originality.  In one particular regard, that is, how an idea arose within their mind and found a permanent place in the heart.  Did that idea start in their own mind through a conscious process?  It is very difficult to say sometimes.  It may have been that the seed of the idea was always there.  The environment, the people around that person, or the ongoing process of meditation and reflection simply gave the opportunity to the seed of that idea.  Even if it is something one may call, ‘accidental discovery‘, the growth of the original idea depends upon the subsequent attention.

What should a person do when such an idea is discovered within?  Should the pursuit become immediate?  It can happen, and it is considered rightly, the sign of immaturity.  There is a taking of chances without consideration.  Some have taken chances and have succeeded.  It is what the optimist believes would happen, especially in his or her own case.  Even if they didn’t succeed – of course, giving due attention to their pursuit in either case of success or of failure – there was a failure to consider the consequences.  This consideration takes time.  As one becomes more responsible, the reasons for consideration become more, and possibly also diverse.  The consequences are seen as shared and not limited to oneself.  This is where maturity shows; in not only the ability but also the willingness to consider beyond oneself.  To plan, to decide, to pursue or not, and definitely to execute, it takes time.

It’s easier for God than it is for men

This can be said with confidence when one considers the sum of all existence in all its parts.  The complexity of our existence in view of all the different creatures and how there are mutually sustaining parts in nature, while in those cycles there are cancellations and conflicts happening perpetually – as one finds in the world of predator and prey – everything retains a kind of balance.  Even if something seems to be lost, actually nothing is lost.  God has all the time; man does not.

So, in this life of a limited time of uncertain, unspecified length, man seeks to find a purpose.  As mentioned before, there is in some the sensation that the realization has arisen from within.  It does, but it is not the end; it is the beginning of something.  When the idea starts, it has only begun.  With attention, it will grow.  As it will grow, it will reveal what is.  Layers upon layers of cover will be removed.  New revelations will continue to show what is hidden.  Finally, with the active pursuit of it, it will continue to become manifest.  Certainly, it will be noticed, even if it is not understood.  What is that idea though, worthy of unquestioned pursuit?  There appears to be none in the transitory human world unless the fundamental mechanisms defining humanity are changed.