Be mindful of where you look, because that's where you will go

We had driver's education in my high school. A couple days a week, two other students, an underpaid and overstressed driver's education teacher and I would go out and learn to navigate the highways and byways of Kansas City suburbia. Every day a general principle of, "Where you look is where the car is going to go," was reinforced. Very important -- especially when it was my turn to merge onto the interstate.

On one occasion, after a successful merge into oncoming traffic, I looked left for some reason, oblivious to how the car followed my eyes and drifted left until, quickly and with some choice words, our instructor pulled the car out of the path of a speeding semi truck.

Stress levels now a little higher, I was firmly reminded, "Where you look is where the car is going to go."

Philippians 4:8 reminds me of this experience. It says, "And now, dear brothers and sisters, one final thing. Fix your thoughts on what is true, and honorable, and right, and pure, and lovely, and admirable. Think about things that are excellent and worthy of praise."

The Bible tells us that what we think about shapes how we respond to and interpret our experiences. If we focus on what is going wrong, all we will be able to see is what goes wrong.

This does not say that reality conforms to our positive thinking. A brick wall still will be hard no matter how positive you are it is soft. We are bound by the natural laws of the universe created and imposed on us by God. Rocks are hard and feathers are soft no matter how positive we are they are not.

What this verse speaks to is how our thinking frames our perceptions, responses, attitudes and behaviors. How what we choose to dwell on profoundly shapes the direction of our lives.

If we focus on lies, what is false will rule. If we reject what is pure, impurity will infect. If we elevate and aim for what is honorable, we will demonstrate honorable traits.

Athletes understand the power of focus more than any other group of people. The attitude we embrace and the behaviors we habitually employ have a huge impact on the life we build. Yogi Berra reminds us, "Sports are 90 percent mental, and the other half is physical."

Where you choose to look is where you are going to go.