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Modern life isn’t measured in time or energy, it’s measured in attention. The things we pay attention to literally define our life and with the depleting attention span, it has become the most valuable resource in today’s markets.
Your experience of being alive consists of nothing other than the sum of everything you pay attention. At the end of your life, looking back, whatever compelled your attention from moment to moment is simply what your life will have been. So when you pay attention to something you don’t especially value, it’s not an exaggeration to say that you’re paying with your life.
Reading this, one might think that making the most out of life means increasing the number of things we pay attention to — more projects, more travel, more friends, more experiences, more, more, more. This way, when we look back, we’ll have so much to talk about, so much of what we can call our life. Right?
Well, I don’t think so. Cause it’s not just about paying attention in the present moment. It’s also about how much we can absorb and remember. Pay attention to ten things and you’ll remember ten. Pay attention to a thousand and you’ll remember none.
When we boast of reading fifty books, think about how many can we actually quote a sentence from. Or more importantly, how many lessons have we actually applied to our lives.
When we say we’re busy, it’s important to question ourselves if we’re actually being productive or just following the norm. If we’re actually spending our time doing something worthwhile or fun, or do we find it hard to sit still.
There’s nothing inherently wrong with doing less. Rather, doing less leaves us with the time and energy to absorb more. By doing less, we get a chance at being more.
I’ll leave you with an example. Let’s say you’re traveling to a new city for a week. If you plan to cover every little attraction that this city has to offer, you’ll mostly find yourself running from place to place and your mind will constantly be ahead of you, thinking about the next stop.
The result? You still miss most of the attractions while barely scratching the surface of the ones you do visit.
On the contrary, if you keep a lighter schedule, your mind is relaxed and more aware of the surroundings. You see less of the city but spend enough time at those places to savor them completely.
Same is the case for everyday life.
What are your thoughts on busy-ness as the norm?
Take it slow,
Aachman
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