The Cost of Distraction

Izzy Grandic’s Lessons

Distractions come in all shapes: daydreaming, prioritizing the wrong things, failing to observe reality and more.

The lack of focus can strip us away from experiences and making progress on our goals.

Through distractions, we procrastinate. And make fake progress. And miss out on beautiful experiences around us. However, through practise, we improve our ability to navigate our world. I’ve primarily experienced this through meditation.

This year, I’ve had countless experiences where distraction has been detrimental, and many where I learned the power of anti-distraction. I’ll discuss a few here:

1. Failing my driving test
2. Walking for 12 hours straight
3. Going to the ER

Failing my driving test

Learning how to drive a car has been my side-hobby during the pandemic. I’ve probably really worsened my dad’s blood pressure, though.

I’ve gone from parking lots to navigating Toronto rush hour, so I’m not half-bad. But when it came to actually pass my driving test, almost everything I learned went out the window.

I was distracted.

And almost ran a red light, turning left.

It was an elementary mistake. A really dumb mistake. I know. For weeks I would go over the scenario in my head, assessing everything I did wrong.