Seriously sidetracked

Distractions always come in attractive packages; sometimes in a form of hot gossip spilling out from Ollie’s chatty mouth or as a heart-catching cover of a book popping out from Sumi’s handbag.
They come in all shapes and sizes. Sometimes it just a momentary urge to turn your head at something that you are not supposed to be looking at or sometimes it is intense enough to make you float in the mid air for days and even weeks.
What is so dangerous about getting distracted is that it makes you forget what you are supposed to be doing, and thereby delaying the completion of the task you are entrusted with. Worse still, getting sidetracked can also mean that you letting go of one of the most precious moments you worked hard to seize.
Perhaps what we don’t realize is that, an innocent ringing of a cellphone when you are crossing the road or an eye-dazzling sari you see on a shop window while driving is not as harmless as it may seem. The moment you choose to give priority to distraction over your task, you are holding your life at a great stake, the gravity of which you don’t even understand.
Getting distracted is a natural ingredient we have in our characters in different doses. But like any other thing, it needs a good control and curbing. Your ability to focus and your presence of mind should be strong enough to fight away distractions that can sometimes ruin you in the long run. If you give away to temptation very easily, people around you may paste the ‘easily distracted’ label on your back. Once you win such a title, no matter where you are, be it school, workplace or youth club, and no matter how hard you appear to look responsible, you will not be counted in the lot of dependables.
Once you are labeled, others can find it an easy weapon to use against you.
It is always easy to let go of something you already have; but it is uncertain whether it will come back to you in the same easy speed it went away. This is the logic with everything you let lose in your life – from small things like concentration, presence of mind to ultimately your life.
And yet perhaps, it may not look as fearful as it sounds. Sometimes small distractions come in the form of divine treats. After all, I am no saint to keep my eyes on the computer screen when my ears pick at the sound of Di opening a bag of Cheese Rings or yummy waffles singing in Shehan’s lunch box.