A little while ago, I’d gone into a hair salon to get my hair cut. And, because the prices are lower, this small shop had a ton of customers waiting. As I’d passed by the door of the hair salon, I saw the female shop owner, giving her customer a trim, and gazing out the window at the same time, and, as she saw someone passing by the shopfront, she’d hollered out, “Do you need a wash, there’s no wait for that!”, and so, I’d entered, and, waited, for about ten minutes just the same. As the stylist’s assistant washed my hair, I sat, waiting on the barber’s chair for my haircut.
A little while later, the female shop owner came around, wrapped a cover around me, and after I’d told her what style I’d wanted, she’d started cutting. After a few snips, she’d stopped, and walked over to the elderly woman who was getting her perm and placed the perming fluids onto her hair, then, came back, to work on my hair. A little while later, she’d stopped again, asked another woman who’d just entered what she was requiring? The woman told her she needed a perm, the shop owner went to check on her hair, asked her what color she’d wanted to dye, then, came back to me, to cut my hair. And, a little while later, she’d turned her head toward a frequent customer, which university was her son studying in? And so, on and off, on and off, she just, couldn’t focus on my head of hair.
I sat still, with the aprons wrapped around me, looked at my own image, with the messy head of hair, which was also, speaking of the upset I was feeling. I’d felt bad, thinking, if she’d kept getting distracted, then, would my head of hair turn out really ugly? I couldn’t help but start, “Ma’am, can you please, JUST concentrate on trimming my hair?”, that, was when the female shop owner started, focusing, on MY head of hair.
I couldn’t help but feel, that in this noisy world that we’re living in, it’s, getting harder and harder, needing, to focus on just ONE thing at a time.
and this, is what multitasking looks like…
And, could it be because of how we’re all, coping with the busyness of life, so many things, distracting us, that, is why, the human heart became more and more agitated more and more often? I’d recalled how as I was eating my meals, how I couldn’t help, but start sliding on my cell phone, and as my daughter was talking to me, I’d always replied in one-syllable sounds. And, waited until I’d come back and asked her, “What was it that you said?”, she’d become displeased, “it’s fine, I’d told you TWICE already, you’re NOT even listening!”, and so, I’d had to, apologize to my daughter, “I’m sorry, I will, work hard to change my behavior the next time”.
When can we, NOT get affected by the external environments? Get rid of that unsettledness inside of us, focus on doing ONE task at a time, work, eat, hearing others out. In sum, being able to focus on one thing at a time, is a very valuable thing, as that shows respects to not only others, but ourselves as well.
imagine how much strains would be on the mind if you’re doing this every single day…
And so, another lesson in INTROSPECTION, as the woman complained of how unfocused, how easily distracted the hairstylist was, she’d become multi-tasking when she was talking to her own child, but, gladly, her daughter’s words served as a reminder, that she should only, do ONE thing at a
Life, the Obstacle Course 