I love my daily walks. It is a time to listen to podcasts or just organize my thoughts and breathe a little fresh air!!
The other day, I was about 5 minutes out and the sneaker sock I had on slipped into my shoe. The heal just slid down into the back of the shoe. So I had a choice to make. I could either go home and put a different one on that wasn’t so stretched out, I could pull it up, probably just to have it slide down again, or I could just keep going and practice not being distracted by it.
I chose to keep going and to ignore it.
SO you might be thinking “How annoying!” Yes, it was for a little while. But then I just let it be and chose to pay attention to the podcast I was listening to. After awhile, it just became part of the experience.
How many times have you been distracted by something unpleasant? So distracted that it made the experience unpleasant? Maybe is was an obnoxious person at a party or bad weather on your day off or even a bad wifi connection? NOW, you’re in a mood that you can’t shake because you’re so focused on the THING! As the day goes on, you find yourself getting mad and impatient at everyone and everything around you because you are still letting that metaphorical SOCK distract you.
I am convinced that every impatient driver on the highway is having a day like this. I’ll be honest, it makes me laugh to think that!
So what could we do differently? What’s a better use of energy?
Awareness is the key. We always have a choice about what to put our attention on and how we want it to impact our thoughts and feelings. Make a mental note- look what just happened there. Huh. Ok, now what? Focus on or ignore it? Is it an important detail to the direction of my day or is it just a fly in my face? ( oh yeah, and then there are the mosquitoes that fly around your face on a warm summer day. but let’s save that for another blog)
You have a choice. What will you do with it?
I think it’s time for me to buy new socks.
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