Law of the Garbage Truck

Image Credit: Painter06

One day I hopped in a taxi and we took off for the airport. We were 

driving in the right lane when suddenly a black car jumped out of a 

parking space right in front of us. My taxi driver slammed on his 

brakes, skidded, and missed the other car by just inches! The driver of

the other car whipped his head around and started yelling at us.

My taxi driver just smiled and waved at the guy. And I mean, he was really 

friendly. So I asked, ‘Why did you just do that? This guy almost ruined 

your car and sent us to the hospital! ‘This is when my taxi driver 

taught me what I now call, ‘The Law of the Garbage Truck.’ 

He explained that many people are like garbage trucks. They run

 around full of garbage, full of frustration, full of anger, and full of 

disappointment. As their garbage piles up, they need a place to dump it 

and sometimes they’ll dump it on you. Don’t take it personally. Just 

smile, wave, wish them well, and move on. Don’t take their garbage and 

spread it to other people at work, at home, or on the streets. The 

bottom line is that successful people do not let garbage trucks take over their day.

Life’s too short to wake up in the morning with regrets, 

so…Love the people who treat you right. Pray for the ones who don’t. 

Life is ten percent what you make it and ninety percent how you take it! 

Have a garbage-free day!

– Author Unknown

Don’t Give Distractions Permission to Distract You!

Image Credit: WikiMedia

Distractions will always be around.

Don’t allow those distractions to distract you.

        I have spoken to so many people who are spooked by the background noise permeating through the pores of our peace. I have written on this topic before, and I started to leave this post with the simple reminder stated above. 

        Instead, in the midst of what’s already swirling all around us, I want to direct you to a post by my friend Jaja Wallace from Kindfeelings. I know many of you follow Jaja, but please check out his post, “Ignore Distractions And Focus” if you haven’t already done so, which details a simple way to deal with distractions. Thank you, Jaja, for sharing this advice that needs repeating, and implementation. It is very much needed. Have a Distraction-Free day y’all. 🌞

Filter Those Distractions

Image Credit: Camila Quintero Franco

Distractions are all around us. We must be aware of their presence, but we must not get distracted by those distractions. Stay calm. Stay alert. Stay aware.

Image Credit: dbambic

Unplugging from Our New Recreational Drugs

I was sitting in a waiting room reading a hardcover book and a patient who I acknowledged when they walked in sat down in a chair opposite me. He commented on how odd it was to see someone in this day and time actually reading a physical book, not on an e-reader or tablet. He laughed as he noted that reading a book was not really today’s “drug” of choice. I thought that was incredibly sad but true! 😦

More and more people are partaking in unconventional recreational drugs and have become addicted to them while not even realizing that they are. It seems like we are seeing more articles reminding us to retrain our patterns of behavior to steer away from habits that can inhibit our path to joy, love, and happiness. It’s interesting to see how we have to be reminded of living a fulfilled life by training ourselves to be happy. Unbelievable huh?

According to Merriam Webster, a recreational drug is a drug (such as cocaine, marijuana, or methamphetamine) used without medical justification for its psychoactive effects often in the belief that occasional use of such a substance is not habit-forming or addictive. Yet what if our new recreational drug is our addiction to non-stop technology, our smartphones and mobile devices, the new modern conveniences that are supposed to save us time, energy, and money, but have become distractions from happiness?

The new drugs of choice, not particularly alcohol or medicinally related, is now our compulsive, psychological, chronic or physiological needs that lead to impulsive, habit-forming behaviors or activities that can have harmful effects like anxiousness, sleeplessness, irritability, mental attacks or health declining symptoms to our overall being.

We are living in an anxiety-driven, unforgiving, and desperate society that leads us to a bottled-up crisis that needs to be unplugged often. We don’t need someone to tell us the secret to being happy. We need to take a step back, evaluate where ground zero is for the crater causing our attention-deficit, sadness, and aloofness, then prescribe to ourselves our personal, positive, empowering, uplifting and exuberant methods into finding our “happy” and then sticking to it.

😉

They Pop Up Just When You Least Expect

Each day it seems like no matter how much I may try to avoid it, something so bizarre, so questionable, and so unimaginable raises its sinister head to distract, discourage and defeat. It tries to blur the line between truth and lies and does not deserve such attention when it obstructs the truth.

While this can be extremely overwhelming, I must remind myself that if such distractions, when they suddenly pop up as they do to keep me from serving my purpose as God would have me to do, then the distractions win. That’s something I simply cannot afford to allow to happen. I will not willingly give it that kind of power and I suggest you do not lose focus by allowing it to get the best of you either. 

Driving Under the Influence: Substance and the Substantial

OK folks, we are in the midst of the holiday travel season and tons of people will be traveling by all modes of transportation. If you are driving a vehicle, piloting a plane, conducting a train or navigating a water vehicle…PAY ATTENTION to what you’re doing!

Driving under the influence (DUI) used to be a term applied to drivers operating their vehicles while driving drunk, but nowadays “influence” entails so much more.

Alcohol + drugs (prescriptions or not)

Fatigue

Texting

Reading

Putting on makeup

Shaving (yes I know what you’re thinking)

Eating

Getting dressed

Multitasking

Shall I go on?

It’s not worth your life or the lives of your loved ones or others on land, sea or air, not be alert and responsible. Don’t risk allowing distractions or substance abuse to turn into tragic, unchangeable actions! Be safe driving, not just for the holiday season, but always!

Attention Deficit Seduction

Image credit: Richard Revel

Have we become blinded by how much we are more controlled by technology than we care to admit? Our very thoughts, imagination, analytical perception, and creativity all seem to be controlled by our digital devices. Are we now becoming the robots, in this crazy role reversal? Don’t get me wrong, I like my mobile devices, but I refuse to let them seduce me into a scary and obsessive relationship.

I was recently listening to a conversation about how common it is for people to walk and text, or drive and text simultaneously, oftentimes resulting in some scary and tragic situations. Although driving while texting is illegal in many states, walking while texting can be just as hazardous. Why are we so obsessed over our Smartphones and digital devices? How did we become so seduced by those illuminating screens that make us lose our sense of awareness?

Many people do not find this seduction problematic, but let’s face it, our digital devices are just as addicting than controlled substances. Go into practically any restaurant and observe how many people cannot sit, talk and eat without grabbing their Smartphones. It appears that no one wants or prefers to talk anymore, but instead prefers to let their fingers do the talking.

Another alarming thing I have noticed more often than I care to admit is when you see parents or caretakers paying more attention to their smartphones than they do to their kids. Of course, as some of you may have experienced, saying something to these adults brings on a glare of war declared on you for saying something, or they may even hurl insults back at you…like mind your own damn business kind of responses. 

While many feel this is our new normal, should we just deal with it? I am inclined to believe that Attention Deficit Seduction is too great of a risk to take when it comes down to the safety of yourself and others. That’s just my two cents for today!