SQUIRREL!

One of my favorite movies is the Disney Pixar movie, UP.  In this movie there’s a scene where the two main characters, Carl and Russell, find this dog named Dug.  Dug has a special collar that gives him a  human voice and while he’s explaining to Carl how great his owner is for creating this collar, he looks away suddenly and yells out, SQUIRREL!     There’s also a scene in this movie where a pack of dogs are in the woods and they too have special collars that give them voices.  One of the dogs is a tough looking Doberman Pincher and his collar is broken , causing his voice to sound like a little kid.  While he’s talking to the other dogs, he also looks away suddenly and yells, SQUIRREL! 
It’s really quite funny to watch as these dogs are talking away and then all of a sudden, SQUIRREL!  But isn’t that how a dog really acts?  It can be focused on one thing and then all of a sudden the smallest little movement can catch its eye and, BOOM; their focused on whatever it was that caught their attention.   But most dogs don’t just look at it….they chase it.

Now, I’m not calling anyone a dog, but I do think we let small things distract us from what we should be focused on.  I was working on a project this evening and out of nowhere I started thinking of a place in Picayune we used to hang out as a kid called Boley Creek.  Why in the world would I all of a sudden think of Boley Creek? 

We sure had a lot of fun at that creek.  We had this rope swing that hung about 6 feet off the ground that we would:   Wait, see…this is what I’m talking about.  I was working on a titles and names for chapters and then all of a sudden, SQUIRREL!  Off I go chasing something I had no time to chase.

You’re probably asking yourself, how do I stop the distraction?  How do stay focused on what really matters?  How do I stop letting the small, quick moments of thought step across the yard of my mind and not allow them to distract me from the large, more important things I’m working on? 

We don’t stop them, we can’t.  A distraction is going to happen.  It is what it is, a distraction.  They’re always going to be in the way and they’re always going to occur when we least expect them.  We can’t stop them, but we can do something that Disney Pixar scripted Dug to do.  While most dogs would have turned away from Carl and Russell and chased the squirrel, Dug didn’t.  He was able to do 3 things that allowed him to stay on track and continue with what he was doing prior to being distracted. 

1)      He RECOGNIZED the distraction
2)      He IDENTIFIED the distraction – He named it. 
3)      He IGNORED the distraction and returned to what he was doing.

Don’t let a distraction pull you away.  Once you’ve recognized and identified it, ignore it and go back to what you were doing.  You can’t let a distraction become a hindrance to the goals and dreams you’re working on.   You must keep moving forward, keep striving to accomplish what it is you’ve set out to accomplish….don’t stop.  The distractions will come; SQUIRREL! Just don’t chase them.   

Just my thoughts on a page….SQUIRREL!