My mother first introduced me to music. I can remember going to Chicago's Lyric Opera to experience all types of performances.

As a kid, I was totally fluent in Italian and understood opera like nobody's business. No, really, I did! Who am I kidding?

Of course, I didn't understand any of it! But I loved going! We used to sit in the balcony, and I would pull out my mom's antique opera glasses (small binoculars) to watch the performance.

Here's the thing, opera glasses need to be focused. And, like binoculars, if you try to focus too much, you end up losing sight of what you're trying to see. Trouble, stress, anxiety, depressed thoughts, pain, suffering, COVID-19, social distancing, isolation, joblessness - just to name a few, are no different.

When you ultra-focus on your stress, are you able to see beyond the fear and find a solution?

When you ultra-focus on the anxiety of not having enough work, are you able to focus on how to make something better and adapt to the "new work" that's going on now?

When you ultra-focus on COVID-19, and its effects, are you putting your body in a state of fear that ends up compromising your immune system?

It's not easy to stop focusing on the things that create fear.

It's not easy to just put our anxiety to sleep. I live with bipolar disorder and suffer from crippling anxiety - that's never going to go away.

But, if I stop, take a broader view, and focus each day on something that makes me happy, brings me peace, or brings about gratitude, I might just have a chance of doing the work that matters.

Like binoculars, when you stop to re-focus, you have to zoom out, take a broader view, find your target, and home in.