distractions

It’s easy to get distracted. I want to go to bed, but I keep looking up things on the Internet. I will be chatting online and the phone rings- boy, any multi-tasking skills I thought I had fly out the window. All I can do at the same time is walk and talk on the phone or run and breathe. Even listening to music on the trail is an overstatement. I’ll definitely hear it, but not everything, especially words, will sink into the deep consciousness of my mind.

I wonder if we’re meant to be multi-taskers or one-job-at-a-time creation. The latter would certainly make road trips a drag for the driver. Driving and NOTHING else! I definitely don’t fit that description of human creation if that’s the divine consensus. What about Broadway musicals? A person could bust out into random song only to be stopped dead in her tracks due to the shut down of any other functions like dancing, acting, seducing the man, dreaming of the perfect life, or moving with any sort of grace and finesse much less avoiding the edge of the stage.

Obviously, we are not suppose to be one-thing-only people in daily life. Our own bodies don’t even function that way, though sometimes my stomach thinks it’s the only important organ. And yet, a better quandary might be what are the tasks that really shouldn’t be multiplied with anything. Chewing gum and swimming. Reading and walking a tight rope. Driving and talking on a cell phone ☺. Hunting and polishing your toe nails.
How about giving a hug while talking to someone else and squirming around? Or promising to offer assistance while watching TV and making a grocery shopping list?

I’m proud to know so many people who multi-task with great skill and do it in a way that make you feel like the only thing on their plate when a conversation with you is one of their many tasks. My grandpa can join me with a glass of lemonade and shut off the rest of the world to show me his undivided attention.
The pleasure of accomplishment for multi-taskers often seems to outweigh that of single-task moments, and yet the single-task could mean everything to the recipient in that moment. Whether it’s a dog who gets to be petted without pause, a friend who wants to talk about life on the phone or a child who offers a hug just to get one back, these undistracted moments are worth finding. Worth taking off the hard-hat needed for the busy and dangerous work of multi-tasking. Be careful.