A magnifying glass not only allows us to see things larger than they are, but it also has an interesting property of burning the paper below it if sunlight passes through. And yet, an ordinary block of glass will at best warm the paper below but cannot create the intensity of a magnifying glass. It may serve us well to reflect upon what it takes to magnify our efforts and create the impact and intensity we are truly capable of.

We often underestimate the role and importance of having focus in life. The same sunlight passing through a magnifying glass burns the paper only because all the rays converge to a single point. Our ability to realign ourselves and bring our attention to a single pointed purpose without getting distracted creates the intensity we may well be missing.

Focus sets the direction, but it is our dedication to the purpose that keeps us on track. So often we look back to find well-begun but half done efforts lining our past. We may have started with focus but forgot to keep igniting the commitment within.

However, dedication without consistency and discipline often takes us a few steps forward and then a few steps back. A magnifying glass does not keep changing from sometimes being effective and sometimes being a block of plain glass. It keeps itself true to its nature, even when the dark clouds block the sunlight, knowing very well that the moment the clouds disappear, the fire will ignite.

And yet, no matter how good the magnifying glass is, if it is coated with dust, the light will never be able to pass through effectively. Our inner purity of character and clarity of purpose opens the gateway for our infinite potential to express itself. We are not perfect, and of course, in our time of honesty, we will be able to recognize the layers of dust we need to shake off. When we struggle with sincerity, often the winds of change help us in a manner that we could never have expected.

The choice is ours. We can either let life pass us by or make the changes we need, to magnify the difference we make for ourselves and in the lives of people.

(Picture – Ta Prohm Temple, Cambodia)