’Pay attention Sleeman’ – how many times did I hear that? In the classroom …not so much on the playing
fields. I am not sure it did any good. But now I know that paying attention is key – if I don’t
pay attention I may miss out on many of the riches of life. Even the All Black’s discovered that success
is about controlling attention under pressure.
Religion used to hold our attention – its rituals, fasts and feasts all designed to direct our attention to the
sacred. Lent used to get my attention when I was young – Ramadan certainly gets the attention of the
Muslims among us… fasting from sun rise to sun set.
But today it is our gadgets – social media – Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, online shopping, box set
bingeing which are busy harvesting our attention – and we let them have it cheaply – And we DO miss out on
many of the riches that life has to offer.