Everyday Life · · 3 min read
Stop Looking at Trees and Watch the Road
I was driving to the shops with my wife yesterday afternoon.
Just a normal drive.
Then I saw this huge tree on the side of the road.
My attention went straight to it and the thought appeared:
"Imagine climbing that."
And as I kept looking at it, I slightly swerved.
My wife quickly said,
"Watch where you're going. Stop looking at trees and watch the road."
She was right.
And I laughed, because in that moment I noticed something.
That's exactly what the mind does.
A thought appears. Attention follows it. And before you know it, you're drifting away from where you actually meant to go.
Not always in a big dramatic way.
Sometimes just slightly.
A worry. A craving. A memory. A judgement. A thought about the future.
It catches your attention.
And if you keep following it, you start drifting.
The tree wasn't the problem.
Looking at it wasn't even really the problem.
The problem was forgetting I was driving.
And maybe that's what happens with thoughts too.
They appear.
But when all our attention goes with them, we can forget where we were actually trying to go.
Thankfully, sometimes life gives you a reminder.
Or in my case…
my wife does.
Notice it… don't feed it.