Reflection 5: If there’s too much to remember, focus on what’s important
REFLECTION 5. If there’s too much to remember, focus on what’s important
Picture a complex road junction or roundabout – perhaps a motorway interchange. There’s so much information to take in, so many decisions to make in a short time...you have to be focussed.
http://www.fotosearch.com/sc/SUB002/s1018132/ illustrates the point.
Taking exams means having a lot to remember – and know – for each subject. Thoughts, like traffic, can seem confused - like a jam.
Michael Pelham sailed alone 3,500 miles across the Atlantic during November/December 2006, completing 46 days sailing alone in his 28-foot boat on January 3, 2007. (It’s worth measuring 28ft and showing how long that is...or isn’t.) He was 14 years of age. It wasn’t only during the crossing that he had to be focussed, concentrating on what was important for his survival – it was in the preparation too. Now, during this exam time, he’s sailing alone around the world. You can find out more about his transatlantic and round the world voyages at:
http://www.kidsaboard.com/magazine/boating_news/youngest_solo_atlantic_crossing.shtml and
http://www.wtop.com/?nid=391&sid=1642337Creighton Carvello is a person who has amazing powers of memory. For example, given any date from the past four centuries, he can tell which day of the week it fell on and
he can name every score, player, goal-scorer and referee since the first FA cup final in 1872.
There’s more about his memory at:
http://www.memorablecarvello.co.uk/memoryworldrecords.htm
A few people have memories like this man; most of us do not, so we have to take a leaf from Michael Pelham’s example and learn the importance of preparation and then focussing on what’s important to achieve the goal.
How we use our time as well as our abilities is vital. There’s a time to analyse what’s important, what’s key, what’s central, what’s vital and focus on it. Advice can centre on highlighting sections of revision notes or looking through past exam papers and identifying ‘banker’ questions – there’s no shortage of advice. Doing it can be difficult but it’s an important part of success.
BIBLE REFERENCE
2 Corinthians 11:23-27 (St. Paul tells of the suffering he’s undergone in his determination to serve Christ.)
REFLECTION
Lord, give me a clear head to focus on what I need to do – not only now but in the days to come;
let me have judgement about what is worth remembering and what is not;
let me have the stamina to work through the pressures of exams and to keep a clear sense of the good I want to bring to life.
And give me, I ask, the peace that comes from knowing I’ve done as well as I could.
And a last thought ...
‘Anyone can do any amount of work, provided it isn’t the work he is supposed to be doing at that moment...’
(Robert Benchley,
Work by Robert Benchley, in ‘The Penguin Dictionary of Modern Humorous Quotations’, compiled by Fred Metcalf, pub .Penguin, ISBN 0-14-007568-2)
A REFLECTION FOR EVERY DAYLoving Lord, I pray:
for the will to do my best each day – exams or not;
to know myself, celebrating what I can do and working at what I need to;
using every part of each day well;
learning from the past in shaping my tomorrow,
keeping at the heart of each day a belief that I am valued with the purpose to become the me you want me to be.
Let me learn well: reaching for my ambition; understanding what is important and believing in who I am and can be.
