Distraction

People, including myself, seem to have a difficult time focusing these days. I’m not sure why, or if the answer(s) are even the same for everyone. Just thought I’d ask a few questions:

Why is it so hard to focus? Is it because we are constantly distracted by the endless stimuli blasted at us by the modern world? That is certainly part of it. But what of our own responsibility?

When something has caught our individual interest. Whatever this is for a person, it seems challenging and rewarding and, deep within us, something stirs. This something tells us that it is important that we should embark upon the journey presented by this task.

We commit to this journey and begin our work. Yet, we seem to constantly find things that distract us. Some of these things may be legitimate life responsiblities but many are mere diversions. We watch another pet video on social media, watch a favorite movie for the tenth time, Think of some factoid that we just have to research, decide that we just have to do the laundry right now or clean the sink, even though it would be a great time to focus on that important project. Somehow, we just can’t seem to do it.

Why?

Are we afraid of failure? Are we afraid of success? Are we afraid we’ll complete the task and discover we don’t really care as much about the result as we thought? Are we afraid that no one else will care? Are we afraid we’ll have to face ourselves?

Or, is it something potentially worse? Are we being physically and mentally altered, perhaps evolved, by centuries of ever-increasing stimuli, in such a way that we may never be able to focus again?

Personally, and this is just my view, I think it has a lot to do with discipline and habits. It’s about having regular periods of introspection. What do we believe about existence, the universe and our place in it? We should get to know ourselves, and what is truly important to us. We then should develop the discipline to prioritize the most important things and create work habits that serve these priorities.

In short, what is the meaning of our life, for us, not based on any other set of beliefs or rules, just for us. What truly stirs us? Serve that. Focus on that. Treasure that. The world is full of people with other agendas that involve distracting us from our path. A more rewarding life can be found when we figure out what really matters to us and focus our efforts there. If this is genuine, there will be nothing to fear, only the opportunity to learn.

One last thought; in your final days in this realm will you be consumed by regret that you allowed the distractions to prevent you from accomplishing the things that were truly meaningful to you OR will you die with a smile for all that you learned on your journey through exploring that which deeply stirred the energy of your being?

As always, your thoughts…