The distractions of a simple mind

I remember getting caught looking out of the window in the middle of a university lecture. Once dreaming about my upcoming holiday when in the office meeting!  Or worse, I have also been guilty of getting engrossed in the TV soap, in the middle of a serious conversation with my husband!

Can’t believe I manage to get into such silly situations very easily. How many of you are guilty of these humanly possible crimes?

 I am sure, every one of you must have had your own moment of distraction when you really shouldn’t have!

The question is ‘If everyone is guilty of this crime, should this be reconsidered for its title as ‘Guilty act’?

The other day, I heard in the news that the groom got distracted by an incoming mobile message while getting married and forgot to say ‘I do’!

Now, I am not saying that’s forgivable! It absolutely is not. But the question is, why did his mind chose to attend the incoming information and give up the present moment of focus?

The so called ‘distractions’ of our mind, are not really distractions but it’s just the way our mind works normally. The mind is born to be wild, random, relentless, and imaginative guided by the basic emotions of fear, anger, love and ego and so on. Sometimes it’s the curiosity that compels you to pursue certain things than the other.

The flow of thoughts is like a new born river! Its fast, finds new paths to travel, enjoys the tranquillity of deep space and bounces on the rocky, uneven surfaces. It has a complete random approach and knows no limits.

Then why do we try to build a dam on it? Why do we try to limit it by building compounds and barriers around it?

I know the obvious reason- to achieve our goals, a certain amount of concentration is required. And I completely appreciate the value of concentration but nobody seems to talk about the value of distraction.

When I observe my 3 year old, the only way of life he knows is ‘Distractions’. He is full of it. One minute, he would be playing happily with cars racing around and the next minute he would be cranky distracted by the sound of ice cream van passing by!

His easily distracted mind is a curse and a boon at the same time!

Would he not have been easily distracted by the thought of having a chocolate cake while his dad is about to go away from him on a tour or would he not have been distracted by the lame story I try to entice him while he is being given injection by a nurse, I would have been doomed!

However, If I had to sit him down for few minutes for dinner, it would be as difficult as a battling a war!

It seems, this is the way we were built originally, until we formed societies and started building rules and regulations to keep our thoughts in check bounded by strong traditional knowledge and notions.

Although the ancient knowledge helps build the base, it completely blocks the route of creativity.

In today’s world, most of us are suffering with the ‘short term distractions’- the digital distractions that continuously keep our mind scattered across laptops, smartphones, TVs, iPads, kindles and what not. Although these are mostly a waste of time and brain power, who knows if someone might find a great idea for a business or a new digital tool for distraction or simply find the love of their life through these!

The distractions of our mind help us find new paths, it helps us heal through pain, it helps us to be creative, it teaches us to take life easy, to play it as a game and nonetheless, it helps us find something new!

The ‘long term distractions’ however are gold. They hold your interest for long periods of time into something that you currently do not pursue or are not allowed to pursue. The ones who pursue these distractions, eventually make it their mainstream focus of ‘concentration’ which generally would lead to success.

Had Einstein not have got distracted and dropped out of school, we would not have had our theory of relativity or the famous E=mc²

Or we all would probably be sitting in the dark corner of our houses, if the ever so distracted Thomas Edison would not have invented electric bulb!

There are so many politicians, actors, singers, scientists, writers and so on, who have followed their distractions wholeheartedly and have blessed us with their creations in various fields.

The distracted one are to a great degree, innovators, thinkers, researchers, artists, leaders and bring out a new perspective to our mundane age old societies.

The power of distractions is beyond our understanding. Why someone gets distracted by something but the other does not or why the distraction helps few and leads to failure for many, is unknown.

It occurs to me that a particular distraction at a given point in time, is the need of the hour for our emotional, physical or psychological wellbeing. Something in us, drives us towards this thing in spite of the society/parental or any other rules burned in our mind.

Whether we go on to light a bulb with that or end up being told off by a teacher depends on many factors! But we surely must not completely ignore that burning distraction! After all, it might hold the key to the future that we have always longed for!