Sunday January 11, 2009 Last Friday I drove to Unity of Melbourne to see David Roth in concert – he’s a really enjoyable and innovative singer/songwriter. I rarely drive out after dark, mostly because I schedule sessions for the evenings. I’ve done that for so many years now that I find it’s challenging to drive at night. Since I’m not used to it, it’s easy to get distracted by the bright lights and I need to pay careful attention to stay focused on the road ahead of me. Kind of like life…
I consider it a real yoga to drive after dark. It takes my complete focus to keep my eyes on the road and on the space immediately around me. I know this is not the time to be looking around at the scenery. I spend a lot of time outside after dark, but mostly in my own patch of woods where there are no street lights and no neighbor’s lights to disturb my natural night vision. Illuminated solely by the moon, I’ve learned to see really well.
When I type in the early morning hours, I wish the monitor was lit in red like the control panels on boats are. Maybe one of you will tell me where to buy some red sheets of film like they use in stage lighting. That way I can keep my night vision intact as I work here in the dark. In a boat at night, you have a big expanse of scenery that is lit only by the moon and the red lit panel is not distracting. You can see for miles.
But when I drive at night, it’s a real study in contrast. I have the oncoming headlights as well as the taillights of the cars I am behind. I have the streaks of light made by the cars moving ahead of me. I have the glare of headlights in my rearview mirror. I have the giant street signs and lights of the buildings I pass. If I am not mindful, it’s east to get distracted and caught up in watching the lights play out before my eyes.
But Friday I wanted to make it to the David Roth concert, so I chose to drive out even though it was after dark. What works for me is to keep my eyes glued to the lines of the lane I am in and on the taillights in front of me. Not much else matters for that drive. I know that keeping a strict focus will get me there in one piece. I know where I want to go, and I let nothing distract me as I make my way there.
That’s pretty much what I’ve learned to do with my other projects as well. It’s easy for me to go out to water the mulberry tree and on the way there I begin watering the bamboo and the honeysuckle and the loquats. Then I notice the rosemary garden needs a little weeding and the bamboo could use some mulch and the birdbaths need refreshing. That sends me to the other end of the yard to the other garden hose, where I may need to mend the gate and fill the bird squirrel feeders. As I go into the house to get sunflower seeds and the key for the tool shed, the phone ringing may take me into the office. After the call, I check email and you guessed it, 6 hours later I realize I never actually watered the mulberry tree.
That’s how I used to be. It seemed funny for awhile and was a cute story to tell, but I soon realized it simply made me seem airheaded and flakey. Which I’m not. I simply wasn’t setting strict goals and priorities and so I just flowed with each moment as I came into it. Now when I go to water the mulberry tree, I make sure it gets the hose first, before I start looking around at anything else.
THE IMPORTANT THINGS GO ON YOUR LIST
I am a list maker. Even for outside chores I want to do, I make a list. I carry it outside with me and check it off. I’m always amazed at how much I get done now that I do this. That’s because I only put the important things on my list. Like: “water bamboo” will go on the list, but not “deadhead roses” The roses I will do as I pass by anyway and it will only take a moment. It’s kind of an incidental chore that I do automatically. Like my daily To Do List never says, “check mail” or “answer phone”. Those things I do automatically.
So whatever is important to me goes on a list to make sure it gets done. And I let nothing distract me until I do what I set out to do. Just like driving at night. I keep my eyes focused on what is right in front of me. I stay alert to where I am and where I am headed. I don’t let myself be distracted by the bright, pretty lights along the way. If it’s important to me. But maybe that’s just me 🙂
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