Blog Journeys of a Lifelong Learner

The problem of wisely investing time and energy is a function of evaluating multiple options and exercising prudent selectivity concerning which opportunities should be pursued and which should be avoided.

Some say that it is best to focus on a single pursuit and that all others should be eliminated. This may be prudent in some cases. It certainly has the attraction of serving to simplify daily choices.

Sometimes, however, multiple opportunities present themselves and cannot be clearly divided into categories of advisable and inadvisable. Attraction to a singular focus must not be used as a cover for failing to be a wise steward of every possibility presented by providence. Plenitude of possibility must not necessarily be repetition of refusal.

Simplification through elimination is helpful only when a clear purpose for elimination has been identified. The mere discontinuation of a pursuit will not automatically increase general effectiveness. It is highly advisable to exercise equal restraint and caution with the commencement of a new pursuit and the termination of an old one.

It is commonly postulated that men can only do one thing well. Is this true? Is the general trend of a single focus a testimony to the impossibility of multiplicity of mastery, or is it a demonstration that humanity is generally lazy and ineffective?

I suspect that much more would be accomplished under a perspective of increasing performance and stretching oneself to develop multiple disciplines rather than a view of accomplishment which automatically declares the extraordinary impossible. The selection of pursuits can be enormously challenging, but the solution must not involve giving up an enterprise simply because it becomes difficult.

Plenitude of possibility brings a rise in responsibility. High potential necessitates high productivity. It is better to be patient in parallel processes than to hastily prune projects.