Losing Your Bearings

Have you ever been interrupted in the middle of a task? The interruption might even be the next thing on your agenda. For example, you might be eating lunch and realize that your 1 o’clock appointment is in five minutes. People can also be interruptions. As I was working on this letter my three year-old son came to “help” me type. That last word, “type” was written one keystroke at a time with me giving him instructions on which key to press. 

This phenomenon of interruptions has come up a lot lately, both in my own life and in conversations with clients and friends. It seems that often our common reaction to interruptions is to temporarily lose our bearings and to get out of integrity with who we really want to be. The person eating lunch might get hangry or he might decide to be late for the meeting. I might be impatient and short with my children when they interrupt my work. 

While these reactions are understandable they also seem to be a temporary insanity. When satiated and sober, the person eating lunch might say that honoring his appointments matters more to him than feeling full. I would say that my relationship with my son matters more than finishing the letter right at that moment, and yet, I might behave differently when I’m in a reactive state. 

A dynamic with losing one’s bearings is to be so attached to finishing some task that we use it as an excuse to drop the ball with other commitments. Lately, I’ve been practicing being ok with not finishing and allowing myself to engage with the next thing at hand. 

This week, I invite you to remember a recent time you’ve experienced an interruption: 

How did you respond to the interruption? What does the way you responded suggest about what mattered to you in the moment? Is this in alignment with what actually matters most to you? How will you respond differently to interruptions in the future? 

God bless,
Dan