It all starts with the water bottle (Image via Wikipedia)
I am easily distracted. I most often notice this when I am sitting on the couch and realize my water bottle is empty so I get up to refill my water bottle. As I walk to the kitchen I think, I might as well go to the bathroom while I’m up. On the way to the bathroom I see the light on in the laundry room and fold a load of laundry I had forgotten about earlier in the day. I take Tink’s clothes to her room.
Tink’s sitting on her bed and I ask if she has everything ready for school tomorrow. She replies “Yes and oh by the way I need you to sign my Algebra test”. I see the grade and we have a 10 minute discussion about paying more attention in class and avoiding distractions. (ironic right?) Finishing our conversation I go to leave her room and then she reminds me I need to sign the test.
This remind me, I need to pray for these kinds of grades (image by graphicsfactory.com)
So I go to my office to get a pen. While I’m in my office I see the message light blinking on my phone. I go ahead and listen to the voicemail. It’s my mom telling me when my sister and her kids are coming in for a visit and she’s not begging or anything but it sure would be great if we could make it too. So I leave my office and go check the calendar on the refrigerator. That date should work. I ask my husband if we have anything to do that afternoon. He says no. I type an email to my mom telling her we’ll be there, then I sit down on the couch and reach for my water bottle. <sigh> I get up and start the process all over again.
My friend Sandy mentioned the other day that she’s recently been practicing yoga and meditating and she asked me if I’d ever tried it. Well, I do some yoga but I don’t really try to meditate. When I meditate it turns into a to-do list in my brain and then I just start feeling anxious to get all the things on my to-do list ta-done. Then I wind up more agitated than I was before I tried to relax.
I need to go to the bank, iron my pants, make Christmas cookies, call Mom . . . (Image via Wikipedia)
My Aunt Mary Alice, God rest her soul, used to say she did the same thing when she prayed. These days I find myself doing that too. “Dear Lord, forgive me for my sins, help Tink continue to grow strong and smart . . .” Then . . . “What am I going to have for dinner tomorrow night? Maybe chicken and rice. Wait, do I have rice? I have wild rice but do I have regular white rice? Oh yeah, we need to eat that broccoli I bought last week. Why didn’t we eat that? Oh, because we had hot dogs and . . . wait . . .” I pause just a moment, “Dear Lord forgive me for my sins and maybe help me concentrate just a little bit more?”
"Heaven Help Me" (image by graphicsfactory.com)
For another view on distractions that are more productive than mine, check out “Thieves and Poachers!” by littlesundog!
Ramblings of an Angry Middle Age Woman 
Cute and welcome to the club. It seems to me I have been rather like this for the past twenty years? lol
Yes, I can’t say that I’ve just gotten this way but I definitely see it more and more these days. I cannot tell you how many times a day I walk into a room and think “Why did I come in here?” and I backtrack to all the things I was doing previous to that until it comes back to me . . . or I get distracted by something else.
As always, you give us a great read and certainly a subject we all relate to. In fact, all morning I’d been distracted by six squirrels racing around outside the window. I finally gave in and went out with the camera. Of course they promptly disappeared! I ventured to the deer pen, then noticed the chickens weren’t let out yet. While opening the chicken barn I realized I hadn’t purged the sand filter at the well-house. Inside the well house I found a hand spade I’d been missing so I took it to the storage building… where I noticed 3 bags of bird seed I’d not yet transported to the utility room for easy access. I might be distracted… but I see it as one good thing leading to another! It’s all good! Thanks for referring my link!
At least you are making progress with your distractions! I’m not so sure about mine. Trying to wrap things up at work to take some time off, traveling to two families for Christmas and hosting a neighborhood gathering – I just hope I get fully dressed!
I tell myself my wretched memory is the fault of an overstuffed filing cabinet (my brain), and not an indication of early Alzheimers. Good luck remembering..what was it again?
I’m comparing my memory to one of those filing cabinets where little pieces of paper fly out every time it’s opened and closed. I’m losing lots of those little pieces of paper!
I love the caption under the man in the yoga pose. : )
My husband and I were both talking this morning about how we couldn’t relax because our minds wouldn’t stop adding to our to-do lists. We were trying to figure out if it’s age or the holiday season. We reluctantly admitted it was most likely a little of both. Thank you for the compliment!
You have a great knack for writing about what all of us middle-aged women are thinking about (btw I think that yoga guy is probably thinking about his abs). Now I know the culprit behind my parenthetical thinking!
If I were in the Yoga Man’s pose I would honestly be thinking “Who’s going to come help me out of this position?” I’m certain I would need traction after that.
But did you sign her Algebra test?!
Would you believe after all of that NO! She had to remind me a THIRD time the following morning on the way out the door. I hope our conversation about avoiding distractions during class worked.
I’ve attempted to meditate several times during my life….on a couple of occasions I’ve come close to doing it successfully, but seems like my head is so full of distracting rubbish and I don’t have the commitment to sit still for long enough. I’ll try again one day because I’m sure it can have great health benefits.