LITTLE DISTRACTIONS
Each morning, when my feet touch the multi-colored rug next to my bed between 4:30 -5:00 AM, I have two goals. The only decision to make is which happens first… stretch and go for the morning walk or head upstairs for the morning writing. Either decision opens my heart to gratitude and positions me to dialogue with the universe, creator, God, a higher being – whatever you want to call it, him, her, or them.
I can’t leave the house dressed in pajamas – I guess I could, BUT no! I choose not to write in my PJs either. So, I walk to the laundry room where my exercise gear is located and dress. The path from bedroom to the laundry room is a minefield of distractions… small distractions… a pair of shoes in the living room, a glass on the dining room table, dust accumulates in the laundry room at an alarming rate, or dirty laundry in the hamper. Sometimes I can ignore it all. Other times I let the dust or the dirty clothes or the piece of lint on the floor distract me and 30 minutes later I have neither gone for the walk nor gone upstairs to exercise my brain and fingers by writing. Nothing that I notice on the way to the laundry room or in it is urgent, but often the path with its distractions either delays or wipes out the completion of the morning goal and thus disrupts the entire day.
What happens in the first thirty minutes of my day can be the predictor for the rest of the day. Intentional attention to these thirty minutes is critical. A review of my past distracted days has clearly shown me this is true. Each day is a building block for my life, so sabotage by small distractions bares addressing.
When I am at my best, I will have an internal conversation that almost seems audible sometimes, “How does sweeping the floor right now get you closer to walking three miles or writing three pages?” or “Stay focused – you came to get dressed not to load clothes in the washer.” I know that it is the little things that keep me from accomplishing the main thing.
There are days when noon rolls around, and I haven’t written a word or walked a mile. My morning has been filled with chasing little distractions. And while the distractions are of significance, they are not significant for reaching the goal set for the day.
Of course, I recognize that this is my challenge and probably doesn’t apply to you at all. Just in case it does, take a bit of comfort in knowing you are not alone. Pay attention.
PONDER THIS THOUGHT --- Von Goethe “A distracted existence leads us to no goal.”
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