Overstuffed Brains Clog – 4/09

It’s been the hardest lesson of my life, paying attention. I mean REALLY paying attention. Oh, I thought I was all along, but I realize now that I was constantly either thinking ahead to the NEXT thing, or about what already happened. Here’s what I know for sure: paying attention to the moment you’re in, the task or concern at hand, is nearly impossible when your brain is sooo full of thoughts all fighting for attention at the same time. You just can’t think straight. I know that the social pressure to cram your life with stuff and activities is staggering, and also very tempting. Try this: Picture your desk after a month of dumping mail on it every day. Pretty soon it’s a jumbled mess and you can’ find anything. The only answer is to start subtracting papers until you can find, and focus, on one at a time. Now picture your brain piled high with stuff to think about. Get it? Time to start subtracting.