Marcel Legros - Play the Game of Life

Dealing with distractions is a life skill we all need to master. I’m working on it myself, right now. I have an idea and I want to create a killer article but a car alarm goes off across the street, a good tv show begs for my attention, my cat wants to be fed, and I have to get my laundry done for work tomorrow. I’m distracted and I can’t focus. We’ve all been here, haven’t we? How do some people stay focused and calm while others are mired in multitasking hell - distracted, annoyed, and irritated?

No matter who we are or what we do, there will always be distractions. Even when we are completely removed from outside distractions, our mind is like a crazy monkey, frantically jumping from thought to thought. The outside world is simply a reflection of what’s going on in the inside.

You’re drifting off to sleep and you hear:

• a dripping kitchen faucet.
• ocean waves crashing on the beach.

People love the sound of ocean waves crashing on the beach. It’s relaxing, isn’t it? So why does the quiet little drip in the kitchen drive you insane when you’re trying to sleep?

Expose Your Thoughts With Bare Attention

If you want to begin honing your powers of concentration, the best tool is insight meditation. Insight meditation is also know as Vipassana in the East. Here’s how it works:

• Find a quiet spot to sit or lay down. Close your eyes. Take a few breaths and draw your attention to your thoughts.
• Thought flows fluidly and rapidly from one to the next - it moves like water. I suppose that’s why people call it ‘stream of thought.’ Some are loud and plaintive and some are quiet like whispers. Listen to them all without judging. As they come and go, don’t resist new thoughts or hold on to old ones. Let them flow like a river.
• Pay close attention to your stream of thoughts as if you are watching a movie. You’re mind will wander and suddenly you’ll notice you have no idea where your attention went. It’s normal to lose your attention. When you notice it, just bring it back to your thoughts. It takes practice to maintain attention for any length of time - it develops with time. Gently but firmly bringing your attention back when it drifts away will strengthen your concentration skill better than any other method.

This practice is simple and can be done often throughout the day. I challenge you to try it for one week. It’s a real eye-opener as you learn what really makes you tick.

Vipassana is usually practiced as a formal sitting or walking meditation but I find it most helpful while I’m busy and life is at it’s craziest. Be mindful of what your thoughts are doing. What kind of monologue is going on in there? When I’m trying to focus and getting distracted, why do I want to kick the cat or yell at my loved ones?

Becoming mindful can be peaceful, alarming, and enlightening all at the same time. We all have repetitive patterns of worry, planning, resentment, anger, desire, want, and fear. Allow them to be, just as they are - you don’t have to do anything. If you scrutinize your mental distractions, they become calm and eventually disappear over time. You’re only truly in control of one thing - your mind. If you are in control of your own inner world, there is no distraction you cannot conquer.