Have you ever seen those little eye pads attached to a horse’s bridle? I’ve grown up around horses, so I don’t remember when I first noticed them or learned what they were for. But show horses and race horses sometimes wear them.
The little leather flaps are called “blinders.” They cover the sides of the eyes so that the horse’s vision is restricted to what’s immediately in front of him. He, therefore, can’t be distracted with other horses on his sides or be frightened by cheering humans, such as in a race or show. For “work horses,” the blinders help the animal focus on the task at hand.
I’ve said “no” to several requests recently. I was asked to serve on my neighborhood homeowners’ association leadership team. Even though the officers meet only once a year, I just didn’t want another responsibility. I didn’t want the possibility of the time and energy commitment, especially after I decided that being the President of the HOA didn’t serve a purpose aligned with my goals.
I also decided to bail on selling in the consignment sale. I just didn’t have the time to put into it. I had worked about 3.5 hours on getting some items ready, but I knew that I still had several hours ahead of me, in order to even make it a little bit worth it. Our winter schedule has been hijacked with snow days and illness. I just didn’t get to work on it, as I thought I would have.
But you know what? That’s life. And it just wasn’t a good use of what few hours I had this past weekend to try to cram them full of consignment sale prep.
The consignment sale and the HOA officer nomination were just two potential distractions to take me off track and divert my attention from the race I’m running. In saying “no” to those opportunities, I wrapped those blinders tighter against my temples and focused my gaze more passionately forward.
Put on the blinders. Eliminate distractions.
Focus on what’s ahead—what’s in your house.
What’s your biggest temptation to distraction?
How do you put on the blinders?
Photo credit: Irish_Eyes from morguefile.com
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