Paying Attention

The pebble in the shoe, the princess and the pea, the mosquito bite that keeps itching like crazy … the small irritants that interrupt freedom of movement, interject frustration into flow, pull attention away from the focus. Most everyone has experienced these attention-grabbers. They come back like the fly buzzing around … and around … and around.

It is an amazing conundrum. One that truly has a simply solution. Stop ~ shake out the shoe – move on. “But I don’t have time to….”  Ok ~ so … keep bullying on through. Create a stone bruise on the sole of the foot. Create more pain – mental, emotional, or physical. (Despite the much-used slogan first coined in the popular aerobic exercise vid from the 80’s, ‘No pain, no gain‘ is not necessarily the smartest course of action!)  Or …. stop …. get the fly swatter ….deal with the irritant.

It’s not the project at hand, the course being taken, the friendship at odds (the mountain), it’s the tiny un-dealt-withs (the pebbles) that wear one out.  They are the dripping faucet. Stop. Deal with the small before it becomes the large. Repeat as often as necessary – while maybe, just maybe, paying attention to ‘why’ the repetition is necessary!  Does one keep walking a sandy, rocky path when another direction may work to get to the top of the mountain??? Hmmmm.

Look at alleviating any stones in your shoes. Then go celebrate the mountain !