Articles
Youth- A Time to Focus.
Opinion | Articles | Capt. Eddie Viegas | 25-Aug-2025
In our Solar system, the largest body is the Sun. It has a diameter of 1,392,000 Km.i.e. it is 109.3 times the size of the Earth. It has an effective temperature of 5,740º K. enough to melt the hardest materials several times. Yet Life on Earth survives under its warmth. Use a magnifying glass and focus its rays- and you can start a fire. Similarly, a small power of a few Watts can be used to produce a LASER (Light Amplification by Simulated Emission of Radiation) beam sufficient to cut or burn materials. LASER is nothing but a high level of focused energy.
We are talking about Focus; and being FOCUSSED is your God given power to success.
Once the great Greek Philosopher Aristotle was asked by a young man how to be successful. Aristotle told the young man to meet him the next morning at the lake where he used to have his morning bath. The next morning both of them got into the water and while they were talking, Aristotle strong as he was, held the young man with his hair and pushed his head under the water. The young man kept on struggling to get free. Aristotle would not let go. After quite a while, when the young man was almost out of his breath, Aristotle let him go.
The young man was very angry and with a great disgust enquired whether the great Philosopher was trying to kill him. Aristotle laughed and asked the boy how he felt while he was under water. The lad replied that the only thought on his mind at that time was to save himself and breathe freely.
It was then Aristotle told the boy that just as he used all his focus & energy to save himself while he was underwater, if he could use all his concentration and work hard towards his goal, he would be successful. The same applies to our youth of today.
In whatever one does; it is important that one does not lose his/her focus. Great players whether in games like football or Cricket or Tennis never lose their focus off the ball. A small distraction can be the difference between Victory or Loss.
Even the Holy Bible points out to us what can happen when a person loses his Focus. In Kings II Chapter 11 we find an occasion when the Great King David who as a boy had killed the mighty Goliath, loses his Focus and is led to multiple disasters. It was only after he repented and asked for forgiveness from God that he regained his lost Glory.
As a youth, it’s your time now to aim high and be focused. If you aim for the stars, you may reach the tree-top. If you aim for the tree top- You may never get off the Ground.
(The author a Master Mariner, is a ship and Marine surveyor. He represents numerous National & International organizations in the world of shipping as a technical consultant)
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