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Distracted by Dr. Juan Harrison

Distracted by Dr. Juan Harrison
  • PublishedJanuary 9, 2025


Distracted

Left the refrigerator door open again.  Seat up, seat down. Closet door open. Light on.  Load the washer/dryer but fail to push the button. Garage door unlocked all night.  House doors unlocked as we head to bed.  I can’t blame it all on old age.  I can say as our lives become more unsettled, more stressful, look for the trend to continue.

Growing up when I’d forget to do something someone would say I got sidetracked.  In recent days I heard a mental health person say that our brains can only focus on one task at a time for maximum effectiveness.  We brag on our ability to multitask.  That’s when I dump my drink in my lap as I try to navigate traffic while I’m eating my burger.

A friend of mine was going fishing.  He told me he didn’t care if he caught anything.  He just wanted uninterrupted time to think.  It seems like we used to spend more time fishing in our younger less hectic days.  Today even the elderly seem to possess cell phones that keep us engaged with email, text, YouTube, Facebook, and a zillion other things to occupy our time.  We’ve become so attached to these little plastic cases that we often feel naked anxiety when we realize we’ve left it at home or back in the car.  Grandchildren and friends can detect our lack of focus as we get interrupted by text message whistles or dings.  When they are silent, we may find ourselves watching it or waiting for the next interruption from our silence breaker.

For us older folks we don’t mind the disruptions or distractions if they are videos of our grands and encouraging texts from our pastor.  Still, we wonder how we got so attached to something that was hardly a part of our lives a few short years ago.

The bad news for us if we live long enough is that the irritating little piece of junk will become even more a part of our lives.  We’ve already seen the disappearance of the use of paper checks in many places.  We can just tap with our phone without reaching for our billfold or checkbook.  More and more we’re being pushed toward a cashless society where money will no longer be used.  There goes the postage stamp as all transactions become electronic.  I’ve already read about frequent international fliers having chips placed under their skin.  

All these present and future changes in our way of life are only going to stretch our elderly ability to keep things straight as balancing checkbooks go away with the end of bank statements.  Maybe it’s good that our brain cells are dying as we become even more easily distracted.  No, dear, I didn’t see that pretty girl with a cute smile and nice figure.  Okay, I got distracted. Ah, to be young again.  Would you hand me my walking cane.

By Dr. Juan Harrison

 

 

 

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