Today’s Quote

“Concentrate every minute on doing what’s in front of you with precise and genuine seriousness, tenderly, willingly, with justice. Free yourself from all other distractions.” -Marcus Aurelius

Most distractions in life are obvious. You open Instagram and all of a sudden you’ve scrolled your afternoon away, one Oreo turns into the whole sleeve, and somehow one episode of Netflix before bed turns into 3am binge. These things may sneak up on you, but you kind of know what you’re getting into when you decide to do them.

Myopia is the medical term to describe someone who can only see things when they’re close up. It’s also a term that is thrown when someone is thinking only in the short term. Deciding to quit your job because your boss didn’t promote you after being at a job for a month may earn you the not so desirable adjective “myopic”. Being short-sighted is a distraction, but it’s one that society still points out frequently. Categorize it with streaming Netflix and watching reels all day.

Distractions that you don’t realize are distractions are far more damaging. Hyperopia is myopia’s overlooked, neglected twin.

No one ever gets smeared for thinking too big, but it’s also a massive distraction. You spend all day, month, year scheming your plan to take over the world but nothing ever leaves the theoretical. Big dreams do not get started with a bang, they start with a mundane baby step. And then another mundane baby step. And then another, and then someday, those baby steps reflect the big vision.

Concentrate on that next baby step today.