The Discipline of Attention
— Nicholas Peters
Where you put your attention is where you put your life. It is the most valuable currency you own and the most easily spent without noticing.
My children,
Where you put your attention is where you put your life.
That sounds simple until you sit with it. Every hour scrolling something you will not remember is an hour subtracted from the life you actually want to live. Every conversation you half-attended is a relationship you slowly starved.
Attention is the most valuable currency you own. And it is the one most easily spent without noticing.
Guard it.
When you are with someone you love, be with them. Put the phone away. Look them in the eye. Ask a real question and wait for a real answer.
When you are working on something that matters, work on it. One thing at a time. Deeply. Without an audience.
The people who live the fullest lives are almost never the busiest. They are the most present.
With love,
Dad