Squirrel!

If you've seen the movie UP! then you know what I mean by the title of this post.  If not, here's a quick overview of what I mean.  In the movie, one of the main characters comes across a dog with a collar on that enables him to speak to the boy.  The dog is a typical non-focused animal.  It is so easily distracted by anything and everything that comes its way.  Any shiny object or thing that moves distracts it from what it really needs to spend time on.  In one of the scenes the boy is talking with the dog and it is replying with appropriate information when a squirrel happens by and the dog, in mid-sentence, says, "Squirrel!"

You see we are often like this simple dog when it comes to our conversations with our friends and family members.  Everything distracts us from the matter at hand.  Perhaps we're not distracted by squirrels or shiny objects glimmering in the sunlight, but think of the last time you were in a conversation with someone - what things distracted you?

• Cell phone ringing
• Text message alert
• Child screaming your name
• Something burning on the stove

No matter what they are, we all have squirrels in our lives. They are the things that distract us from what we really need to focus on.  Today's entry is about paying attention to the things that matter most.  I'm no expert by any means when it comes to focus!  I am easily distracted by just about anything.  I am guilty of picking up my phone in mid conversation or texting while talking to someone.  But honestly it's not fair to the other person.  They deserve better, more of our attention. 

But what about multi-tasking you might be asking?  Honestly, multi-tasking allows us to do multiple things poorly, but when we give our attention to one thing we stand a much better chance of accomplishing the task on time and in a right way.  Think about a heart surgeon for a moment.  Would you want to see a heart surgeon doing an intricate quadruple bypass while texting his wife and yelling at his kids on the phone?  I sure wouldn't.  That's what it's like when someone is trying to talk to you and you are not giving them your undivided attention.

Today make it a point to drop what you're doing and give attention to the people in your life that are talking to you.  You just might be surprised how much you can learn about what's really on their mind and how easy it is to help when you have the whole story.