Next time you’re stopped at a stoplight, look around. Drivers are texting, fiddling with the radio, talking to someone beside them or someone at the other end of their cell phone. The man in the car beside you is shaving. The woman behind you is putting on makeup. It’s little wonder we live through our morning commute. Our distractedness has become an epidemic. How distracted are you? How hard is it for you to keep focused on the task you're supposed to be doing, the person before you? Or are you reaching to check your phone for texts, following your Facebook feed, or letting your mind flit to and fro between the many different things you have to do, the worries that crowd into your brain, or your dreams for an escape from the boredom that plagues you?

Distraction isn't a modern problem, but the level of our distractedness is.

The first step out of the problem is simply recognizing it and its effect on your life.

Intention: Today, I'll simply notice my distraction and the things that lure me away from what is real, what is right in front of me. And I won't judge myself for being distracted. Noticing it is enough for now. Changing it will come later.