A Lion Roared! Don’t have Attention Deficit

The days leading up to the High Holidays are days of preparation. ‘A lion roared, who would not fear’ (Amos 3:8). If we knew that something of immense magnitude were approaching, like a an irritated, ravenous lion, would we not prepare for the engagement? If Gd is going to be paying extra attention soon, would we not make preparations for it?

Ever-increasingly, our attention spans are shortening and we’re being trained to be distracted. Computers, flashing images, emails, texts, videos, addictive and explicit video games, and many other images and engagements grab our society’s eyes, snagging our visual attention, all the while training us to be distracted. We are just beginning to document and measure the impact of all of this, but I can tell you from working with children and adolescents and from some initial studies that these do have an observable impact.

We should not expect to shut out this technology from our lives; my suggestion is to find a balance. We should set aside undistracted hours with our families and carve out sacrosanct time to study and think. Quality relationships and our intellectual abilities are essential components of both healthy religious and emotional lives, and they make us uniquely human.

Set aside time to have patience. As we all know, meaningful achievements and lasting success come from ongoing hard work and concentration-it doesn’t happen overnight.

Don’t forget the metaphor of the roaring lion. Set aside time to prepare for the important days ahead by concentrating, and avoid leaving large deficits in your attention.

Ian