Take the time. Read this post by a Carolina student (my intern!) on focusing:
"I heard a graduation speech recently that told the story of two fish who swim by an older fish. The older fish happily asks, “How’s the water, boys?” A few moments after swimming past the older fish, the young fish asks his friend, “What the hell is water?”
I’ve been trying this new thing called focusing. You’ve heard this term your entire life from scolding teachers and parents. But recently, I have started to think about what the word really means. In this age, people are genuinely terrified of focusing on one task at a time. When we’re having conversations or studying or sharing a meal, we’re also tweeting, texting, looking at Instagram. No one just focuses on the task at hand, and it’s not always necessary. I come to the end of too many conversations wishing I had paid more attention during it — whether they are shared with my best friend or a complete stranger.
And it goes beyond conversations. I am putting a conscious effort into being more focused and present in all aspects of my life — walking to class, grocery shopping, working out, drinking with friends. I find myself coming home at the end of a day, from a campus with thousands of students, having only talked to one or two real humans, only observing the lecture notes or the texts I received on my phone.
I just don’t want to realize, at the end of any chapter of my life, that I was living in water and didn’t even realize it. I want to always observe and soak in the experiences of my day, one at a time. I want to be in the conversations I am having, I want to be in my walk through this beautiful campus. I want to be in this little college town while I am in this little college town. Nothing would be worse than moving to a new part of my life, without ever really understanding and appreciating the one I was in before."
{originally posted here}
"I heard a graduation speech recently that told the story of two fish who swim by an older fish. The older fish happily asks, “How’s the water, boys?” A few moments after swimming past the older fish, the young fish asks his friend, “What the hell is water?”
I’ve been trying this new thing called focusing. You’ve heard this term your entire life from scolding teachers and parents. But recently, I have started to think about what the word really means. In this age, people are genuinely terrified of focusing on one task at a time. When we’re having conversations or studying or sharing a meal, we’re also tweeting, texting, looking at Instagram. No one just focuses on the task at hand, and it’s not always necessary. I come to the end of too many conversations wishing I had paid more attention during it — whether they are shared with my best friend or a complete stranger.
And it goes beyond conversations. I am putting a conscious effort into being more focused and present in all aspects of my life — walking to class, grocery shopping, working out, drinking with friends. I find myself coming home at the end of a day, from a campus with thousands of students, having only talked to one or two real humans, only observing the lecture notes or the texts I received on my phone.
I just don’t want to realize, at the end of any chapter of my life, that I was living in water and didn’t even realize it. I want to always observe and soak in the experiences of my day, one at a time. I want to be in the conversations I am having, I want to be in my walk through this beautiful campus. I want to be in this little college town while I am in this little college town. Nothing would be worse than moving to a new part of my life, without ever really understanding and appreciating the one I was in before."
{originally posted here}
