I read a yoga book once that says you can't fully focus on two things at once. In other words, multi-tasking is bad, and if you do it, you will get two half-assed jobs instead of one good job. What's wrong with slowing down and taking your time? I'm pretty sure whatever deadline you are striving to meet is not a life or death situation, or that friend on the phone will not disappear if you do not talk to them right now. You gotta learn to take time and enjoy the smaller, finer things. Stop and smell the roses, per se.
For instance, lately I have been reading books about Germania and Britannia, of Rome when Nero was emperor, and of the Chittian tribesmen. Old stuff. But if you look at different cultures, who had the cleaner, purer way of life? I'm not just talking spiritual here! The Romans got taken up by their greed, and the end result: massacres by the thousands, civil wars, and assassinations left and right. Look at the flip side of the coin, the tribesmen. Sure, to us, they had ancient beliefs and looked barbaric. But they had the knowledge to foretell when an eclipse was happening without any time-telling fancy doodads, had the ability to birth children without the current medical facilities, and could make an entire herd out of two or three sheep. They had natural knowledge, and knew not to overlook the small things life throws at you. What I'm trying to get at is to stop and smell the roses. I know it's a bit cliche, but it works.
When you stop to smell the roses, you realize you have been missing out on the smallest miracles ever produced. Like, how does a bumblebee fly, when modern science has proven that its wings should not be able to hold its body in the air? Do you think about these small miracles every day? No, humans proceed to go on to bigger, 'better' things. Do you call generations of untamed wars better? Would you call inclines in rape and murder in the cities a better thing? Yes, I am comparing humans to animals, but think about it: we are still mammals. People like to call us the smartest mammal. I choose to call us the dumbest. Rabbits don't rape, porcupines don't murder, and lions and wildcats don't wage bloody wars. They take and do what is necessary for their survival. And what does the "smarter" mammal do? Starts wars because of what? Religious beliefs? Petty things, such as "he took it, and I wanted it"? I am not saying I am for or against wars; to say I am for them would be lying, and to say I am against them would call myself a hypocrite.
But people need to let go of materialistic things. I believe it was Seneca that once said that a man with everything has nothing but a gaudy robe. A man with nothing may have no wordly riches, but he has a smile with which to show his passion for life. Now, one thing I don't understand about Seneca (one of Rome's late popular philosophers) is that he understood the meaning of materialisitc things, and knew that more did not make you a better person. But he lived in a palace with piles of coin, traveled in carriages atop the backs of men, had dozens of slaves at his service, and was lusty for young boys. How could he understand the misfortune of not having money, and having to work to the bone to earn a living, yet the fortune to be able to wake up with a clear conscience and not overlook the small things of life, be able to smile at something overlooked by everyone but you?
It is a nice thing, to be able to keep a clear eye about you, and notice things that are not normally seen. I tend to look at these things as a secret between me and the earth. I have a bad habit of stopping at work and looking at something, like a bird, and wondering where its nest is, how it survives in the desert, where it finds its food, etc. Every day that I have off (Sundays) I like to go to Burger King, and order a sandwich and three bags of tator tots. Since it's an outside pavilion, there are birds everywhere - that's why I bought the tots. I'll scatter all three bags of them on the ground for the birds, and I don't care who's looking at me like I'm crazy.
I noticed, also, that if you catch the small things, and just focus on them, it's a great way of forgetting everything around you. It's a wonderful way of being able to relax and enjoy yourself, if only for a minute, for free, and nothing but concentration is needed. I learned a while ago that if the things that transfixed you as a child no longer hold your interest, you have strayed. I suggest you go find something that you liked to play with as a child, and reconnect with your inner child, in order to appreciate things the way they are supposed to be, everyday things that shed new light because you are looking at them in a different sense.
