The Importance Of Paying Attention

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Paying attention for the past three days has changed my opinion on how I should live and view my life. Although technology in society is beneficial for many, new studies are showing that technology may be affecting us negatively too. Often times we lose essential part of our days because we become so immersed in our phones and gadgets. Paying attention has showed me that I am forgetting to slow down and take a breath in my busy days at Cal Poly. Often times I need the listen to my surroundings and recognized what is happening around me. There are also times when I need to talk to others more instead of avoiding communication by using my cell phone. After these three days I have discovered by looking into recent studies to change my habits and …show more content…
Breathing is essential for us to survive, but it is also important to take time out of the day to just relax for a second and breathe. Breathing while stressed is one of the most helpful things we can do to relax. Breathing balances our sympathetic and parasympathetic nervous systems, and can also reduce stress hormones. I find now that when I take time out of my day to breathe I feel more focused and energized at the task at hand. I believe that breathing is a vital investment that everyone should take in order to concentrate. Another habit that I picked up on is listening. After watching the video of Joshua Bell performing in a busy subway station and being rarely noticed, I realized that I am probably missing out on a tremendous amount of beauty in my life. Often, I am either to focus or lost in my cell phone, and I fail to recognize everything that is going on around. I forgot that I am on Cal Poly’s fascinating campus, and I just ignore all of the sounds around me. I now begin recognized the sounds of the many different birds and insects on campus, and I am definitely missing out on a lot. I think it essential for all of us to begin to turn off the distractions, and just listen to what is going on around us in the world. Finally, the habit that I want to change the most is my mind dulling cellphone habit. Every day I lose out on countless opportunities and experiences due to my cell phone use. The Pay Attention Exercise showed me how I am missing out throughout the three days. At the beginning of the exercise, I didn’t take it seriously enough, and my mind often wondered to my cell phone while “watching” the videos. Noticing that I did this a number of times on day one I tried to improve my habit on the second and third day of the exercise. By doing this, I felt more focused on the task at hand, and I feel that I learned the most on the last two days. I also

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