Day 43

Undivided attention, think about that. How often, in our busy worlds while we’re constantly being bombarded by information and stimuli during our waking hours, do we actually give anything our undivided attention? As I type, I’m eating breakfast and the TV is playing the news in the background. All during my day, I tend to have self inflicted distractions around me at all times. It’s almost like I need them or I think I do. When I started this 365 day journey, one of my intentions was to live in the moment and concentrate on just one activity at a time. I think, for the most part, I’ve failed miserably in the first 43 days. Part of it isn’t my fault, modern life seems to constantly throw dozens of things at us at one time.  Our brains aren’t designed for this overload. In the past ten years, as technology has advanced at a lightning pace, it seems that all of these devices made to save time, make us more productive and efficient have had just the opposite effect. They seem to distract us from what we need to be doing and they’ve taken over our lives. Instead of the tools they were designed to be, they’ve become our masters. Lately, I’ve realized that I lose concentration and focus so easily. Activities, like reading, that I once enjoyed and did prolifically seem almost impossible now. There was a time when I would read two or three books a week; now it can take three weeks to finish one. I don’t think that shift is caused solely by excessive stimuli but also because we’ve come to expect instant gratification. Most of the information we receive in a day is delivered quickly and briefly. Seldom, do we dig deeper than headlines. We play games that last seconds and hook us in by offering the chance of victory or improvement instantaneously. We binge TV programs because we don’t want to wait seven days to find out what happens next. We argue politics over sound bites and we avoid personal relationships by texting instead of talking face to face. Of course, there are benefits and advantages offered by modern technology. I’m not suggesting we give it up entirely but maybe it would do our minds and souls good to step away from the screens and the noise for at least part of our day. We weren’t meant to be islands but islands we’ve become. Spend some time today looking someone in the eye when you talk to them, meditate or read that book. Let’s just slow down for a moment and give something or someone our undivided attention.