Dear LPG,

I am one of those pensioners that is also a Christian and I have adopted the habit of reading one of those books that contains daily devotional thoughts.  I was reading one such thought recently which made a lot of sense to me and may be of help to others.

It focussed in on the fact that drivers are taught to fix their attention on what they are doing and where they are going in spite of all the things that may be happening around them.  For instance, when driving, if you see an obstruction in the road, as a driver, you need to take note of it but then your focus needs to be firmly fixed on how to avoid it rather than the problem itself.   

So, even if you have never driven but you can imagine being behind the wheel of a car going at a moderate speed, and you see a dog or fox running across your path as you are driving, or even walking, it would be natural that you would be drawn to what you are seeing for a moment or two, but your focus should then naturally be looking for, and working out what you need to do next.  In other words, how to best avoid it by either slowing the vehicle or looking for a path which will allow you to successfully steer around it, because continuing to focus on the problem is more likely to result in your steering right into it and making it much worse. 

The piece I was reading suggested that this was a strategy that we would all do well to adopt in order to get through life in general, and that many of us forget when we would do better to remember. 

When that fox translates into something that might be going to happen in your own life.  When seeing a potential problem in your future, such as being aware of a principle that your close friend and yourself might not agree on, finding out that there is a chance that you may be unwell or seeing a potential financial problem on the horizon, we need to focus on what you can do to best minimise the effects and not spend too much time on worrying about something that may not even happen.

I have to say that when I find myself in such a situation now this train of thought does help.  I hope that it may help some of my fellow LPG readers. 

WS, Peckham