Life is full of distractions…I thought as I sat in a busy room surrounded by friends, desperately trying to organize my thoughts for a presentation and wondering if it was humanly possible for them to turn up the music any louder.
Update: it was.
So here I am, halfway through my second week of my senior semester of college and I already feel like I’m trying to tread water while bowling balls are tied to my feet. I’ve found myself sitting still, for the first time all day, in a quiet room in a comfy chair.
I have twenty minutes until my next meeting. And I remember. Wednesday is Blog Day.
I’ve always been a frantic person. I’m not very good at staying stationary and my idea of a good day is working nonstop from dawn to dusk without interruption.
Yes, I might be a workaholic.
I’m not prone to take a break when I could squeeze a few chapters of reading into that small pocket of time or work on the countless Smile Project endeavors. I said I don’t like interruptions because when I really get in the groove of working, it’s nearly impossible to leave that momentum.
So maybe I’ve gone my whole life thinking that distractions are bad.
I always have a plan and I always know where I want to be and, blame it on my Type A personality, but I do sometimes find myself a bit flustered when things go awry. And so yes, distractions were bad to me because distractions are the things that took my eye off the goal.
But now I’m 21 years old and in a few short months, I will be graduating from college. I’m 21 years old and I think I finally realized that maybe, in reality, distractions are the things we should be focusing on.
There’s nothing wrong with taking a study break to visit with your friends next door. Your laundry will keep spinning regardless of whether you spend that half hour reading your textbook or writing a story for fun.
LIFE…will move on whether you pause to notice it or not.
Don’t be so distracted by your work that you miss out on movie night or a spontaneous road trip. Because I have another word for distraction… memories.
The best moments didn’t come from a to-do list. The to-do list will always be there. The best moments come from the times you shrugged and said, “why not?”
