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Monday, December 21, 2009

If Inflection Wasn't The Right Word, It Is Now

I went to the mall today just to get some information at the Verizon store about when I am eligible for a new phone so I can buy that sweeeeeeeet looking "Droid".

Before I entered the building, I stopped short to adjust the strap on my purse over my shoulder and at that exact moment, a chunk of ice fell from the overhang and landed right in front of my toes.

This makes one go,
hmmmmmmmmmmmm.

If I had not stopped in that exact split second to adjust my strap, surely that ice would have hit me in the head. That may not have been such a pleasant experience, I gather.

Yet, I continued on without more thought and went to find the Verizon store. I spent some time there wishing it was February (my earliest date of upgrade eligibility) while I mulled over that
sweeeeeeeeeeet "Droid", that I don't TRULY need. Unless you take into account that the world is moving into IMMEDIATE wireless communication and so little human interaction, that without data plans at your side you would be lost pretty much anywhere, including your own house.

I stopped for a few minutes at one other store and then left the building the same way I entered. I was in the building for no more than 20 minutes. When I left, there was now yellow "caution" taped tied up all over the forward facing entrance of the mall, causing me to take a side door.

I think it hit me (no pun intended) more when I left the building, than it did when the ice actually dropped at my foot. This was obviously serious enough for the mall to take action and keep patrons safe. I mean, on the way in, it did not even occur to me to visit the mall office and report the falling ice, but thank G-d someone had more forethought than I.

When I got into my car, I just sat there for a moment. I thought about my husband's recent car accident, and just missing a hit on the noggin by falling ice and the fact that I am a seemingly healthy, breathing, walking human being who probably could not tell you where all my time has been going these past weeks, because to some degree, I like most people am living my life on "AUTO PILOT".

I feel like (and I will only speak for myself now) this technologically advancing world keeps me in this uncomfortable state of disconnection. My car gets me from point A to point B without much thought. My computer gets merchandise to my door without any direct human interaction required. I run with my
Zune blasting readily available music and before I know it, I have run nine miles. I can compare and dissect different car features, prices, specifications and options BEFORE ever getting to the showroom. And when adjusting my purse strap is the only thing that prevents falling ice from impaling me, I walk right over the mess and head into a mall to look at a phone I barely need.

I used to be a person who prided myself on my clear and concise focus of everything around me. I was always an extremely insightful, introspective person and would never let an event like a serious car accident involving a beloved family member, just pass by without any personal
inflection (I know that is not the correct usage of the word, but it makes more sense than reflection). And yet, lately, I feel like I have no time to inflect or reflect or do any kind of flection, because I just move on to the next thing in life - supper, laundry, dishes, this child's needs and that child's needs and all the STUFF - the STUFF that just clutters your life and your world .... literally and figuratively.

Am I alone in this? Am I the only one who feels I need SOMETHING to connect me back to this world in which I live? And sometimes, I think - those near misses, like car accidents and falling ice, those ARE the things that are supposed to open my eyes and reconnect me to this life I am living and my purpose in it. But I miss the calling, because it's a vicious cycle. This overstimulating world keeps me too busy to focus on my purpose, and then some crazy overstimulating event occurs to TRY to get me to focus on my purpose, but I can't because I have to get to my son's school to pick him up and on and on and on...

Now I am just rambling on like a crazy woman.

Now I get those, gurus and "whole health" Doctors that emphasize the importance of taking time, even just 15 minutes to go into a private space and "meditate" or "breath" and truly focus on your "breathing" and "meditation". How I miss even 15 minutes of available time. Who has 15 minutes? I am lucky if I can shut the bathroom door and count to more than 120 before someone is banging on it.

So if I would not have gone to the mall and spent 20 minutes at the Verizon store looking at a phone I hardly need, well then, I would have had 20 minutes to meditate and breathe. But then, if I did not go to the Verizon store to look at a phone I really, really want, I would not have had my eye opening encounter with falling ice. And frankly, this whole post is a testament to my current
inflection, so all is good then. I guess I have reconnected after all.

And what have I learned???


Well,

Watch out for falling ice, that's for sure.

And,

Life is short, make the most out of it and focus on what is TRULY important.


5 have shown Orah a little love:

Shira said...

Hmmm...so many near misses at that mall lately. My mom's car caught on fire just last week in the Kohl's parking lot...and it is totalled because the fire department had to smash in all the windows and the hood to put out the fire. Thank G-d she was IN Kohl's and not IN the car when it happened. But, yes, it is really difficult to focus on life and our purpose here when we have many "distractions" like cell phones, BLOGS, FACEBOOK, etc. Thanks for the reminder to focus on what is really important.

Anonymous said...

that was an amazing post...beautifully written. and all of those thoughts ring true to home.

Brie said...

Well said. So true that it is very important to reflect on what life should really be all about. Side note from the Israeli-That mall.. I miss that mall a little bit

Melissa E. said...

Ice seems to be a big issue this time of year. When I was in Chicago this week, there were signs all over reading "Watch out, falling ice." Made me wonder. . .what are you supposed to do? It's not a good idea to walk looking up, but I sure didn't want to get hit.

Great post, by the way. We spend so much of our time thinking about things that will not matter in a year or two. I can remember in high school spending a lot of time wondering if I looked cool carrying a 10 lb. cell phone in my purse or if my friends would think I was a dork.

Maybe the falling ice was a reminder that even shopping can make you think about your life and your place in the universe. . .

wife.mom.nurse said...

Definitely food for thought...

Distractions, busyness, multitasking...yep, they really do limit our ability to truly live as we were created to do...to live a connected, personal, fully engaged life. To truly serve, encourage, and have a community with others.

Great post.