Two ideas got my attention this week… One, I was listening to a radio segment this past Saturday morning. The topic was about freedom and being held captive; we can be captive to others, and we can be held captive to ourselves. The other idea is from a statement our pastor said this past Sunday about how we allow noise of the outside world in our lives. If we are not able to set it aside, it will hinder our focus. When I combined these two ideas in my head…
Well, as you know… it got me thinking…
We now live in a world of instant information. What one time took days and months to reach our ears are now at the touch of a button. I will confess, I am fascinated with news of what all is going on “out there.” If I let it, it will distract me, and it does to an extent. Our willingness to put that aside, in some ways, speaks to our mindset. And it does not have to be technology distractions. There are so many things that distract us; other people, family, your job, financials, sports… that putt I missed last Saturday morning, etc…
That said, it now leads to what holds us captive. Are we held captive to our distractions? Individual freedom can only exist when we are no longer captive to the distractions of our own minds. At some point, they can very well become weapons of “mass distractions.”
Don’t get distracted 🙂 stay with me here…
As educational leaders (by the way, that is what all people in education should want to be), are we distracted from doing our jobs? What interferes with us so much that our minds are held captive? If they keep us from doing what we are supposed to be doing, it is not good. For me, one distraction is idle curiosity. I will Google almost anything. I will chase rabbits with or without meat on it. Does it benefit my life? In my world, yes, but big picture, not really.
Nonetheless…
As we educate, as we lead, our minds really need to be clear of distractions. I know, easier said than done. Can we hone in on our objectives? There is a clip in the movie “For the Love of the Game” where Kevin Costner’s role is a baseball picther. When pitching, he mentally says, “Clear the mechanism.” It is often very hard to do this, but I believe we are at our best when we do.
Bottom line… distractions disengage us. I would suspect that most people would want us to be engaged and the flipside of that as well. I guess, in the end, it boils down to what we are willing and not willing to control in our minds. What do we want freedom from? Don’t be held captive to the noise.
Go be a great educator and leader today… Our future needs it…
Remember… Think Leadership and Be For Others…
©2021 J Clay Norton
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