Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 9:54 — 6.1MB) | Embed
Welcome to Stuff I Learned Yesterday. My name is Darrell Darnell, the average person has about 60 distractions in an 8 hour workday, and I believe that if you aren’t learning, you aren’t living.
Seventeen miles north of my home, sprawling outward from the junction of US Highway 77 and Oklahoma State Highway 33, is the town of Guthrie. Guthrie was just a railroad stop until the Oklahoma land run of 1889 which was depicted in the Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman movie, Far and Away. There, almost overnight the town exploded to a population of 10,000 and was soon appointed as the first capital of Oklahoma territory. When Oklahoma became an official state in 1907, Guthrie was our first capital before it moved to Oklahoma City 3 years later.
The relocation of the capital was nearly a death blow to the town, but over the years it managed to prosper again. Today it has a growing population of nearly 12,000 and it leans heavily into the Victorian Era history which first brought the town to life. The town is still filled with beautifully restored Victorian homes, turn of the century state buildings, and a downtown district that is listed as a National Historic Landmark.
While it’s a great place to visit any time of the year, the town loves to do special events during the Christmas season. On one particular Saturday each December two of these events coincide. The first is a self-guided tour of many of the Victorian homes, and the second is what the town calls Victorian Walk Nights where the downtown district is filled with residents dressed in Victorian garb, carolers and other entertainers fill the streets, the shops have Victorian-themed artisans, and folks from miles around come to walk around and take in all of the nostalgia-filled vibes.
My wife, Kari, and I spent the day in Guthrie last month touring homes and enjoying the Victorian Walk. We had a great time throughout the day learning more about the town’s history and meeting a lot of friendly people. Eventually we made our way back to the car, pointed it southward, and began heading home.
There is a major Interstate Highway, I-35, which connects Guthrie to the Oklahoma City metro, but we chose to take a smaller two-lane road back home. That road cuts through what is still mostly farmland and horse pastures. The sun had long since fallen below the western horizon, which led Kari and I to do a double take a few miles into our journey.
What we saw ahead of us was a glow so bright, we each thought at first it was the setting sun. But that couldn’t be the case. We were heading south, not west, and the sun had already set hours before. You may have already guessed it, but what we first thought was the setting sun turned out to be the glow of the city.
Of course, each of us have seen the glow of the city before, but this time it was different. This time it seemed much, much brighter. But the truth is, it had been so long since either of us had ventured outside the lights of the city or the major highways coming into the city, that we’d forgotten just how big the glow is when you remove yourself from it.
It’s not just the lights or hustle and bustle of the city that we can become blind to. In today’s world of cell phones, tablets, mobile computing, and internet-enabled automobiles, most of us are always connected to the grid whether we live in the city or not. All of those devices tether us to an endless stream of ads, videos, photos, data, and distractions. Some of us, dare I say most of us, are addicted to this tether whether we realize it or not.
During the summer of 2017 my daughter and I traveled to Antigua, Guatemala for a week. We spent our mornings and afternoons working with families and community groups before making our way back to our hotel each evening for dinner. We were advised not to bring any phones or electronic devices on the trip. We ended up bringing an old phone that we could connect to wi-fi at the airport and let Kari know when we’d arrived back in the states. But while we were in Guatemala, the phone’s only use was taking photos.
We were lucky enough to be there when Volcán de Fuego was erupting, and our hotel’s rooftop terrace provided great unencumbered views of it. That rooftop terrace was wonderful. It had plenty of seating and was adorned with many local flowers. It provided a 360 degree view of the city and the surrounding mountains. It was a great place to drink freshly-brewed Guatemalan coffee each morning and it was a relaxing spot to wind down each evening. No laptops, no phones, no internet, no distractions.
Here’s what I learned.
Let me ask you a question. Where do most of your good ideas come from? What I mean is, where are you when you have your best thoughts and ideas?
If you’re like me, you’re in one of three places: in the shower, lying in bed, or sitting at church. Are you the same? Maybe it’s while you’re exercising, praying, meditating, or sitting on the back porch drinking coffee. Why do you think that is? What is it about these places that brings out clarity of thought?
It’s simple: these places have minimal distractions.
When we allow ourselves to be in situations where we escape the glow of the city, the tether of our devices, and noise of life, our minds are free to actually breathe and think. If we do this for extended periods of time, at first it can be very difficult, even unsettling. Our brains are so used to being stimulated that the lack of stimulation can cause anxiety or distress. We may even find it difficult to focus on one thing longer than a couple of minutes. It’s weird, right? We’re having clarity of thought, but yet unable to remain focused on that thought.
But like anything in life, if we allow ourselves to do it more often and regularly, it becomes easier and more natural.
I’m a goal-oriented person, which I’ve talked about several times in previous episodes. Nearly every fall I take time to unplug and think. I find a place that is free of distractions and for a minimum of one afternoon I allow myself to think. I think about the past year, my family, my company, my spiritual life, my relationships, my finances. I reflect on the health of each of those things and with the people closest to me. I bring a notebook and a pencil so I can write down my thoughts.
Ideally, I get away from my office and find a space that is truly distraction free. But as long as I turn off all distractions, my office will still work. I sit in silence, pray, and ask God for wisdom. I look over things I’ve written down in years past. Then I begin to think about the year ahead. I ponder all of the things I mentioned earlier and I set goals.
Last fall I was so focused on finishing the client portal that I never took time to unplug and reflect like this. I took some moments here and there to think through some things in my business and spiritual life, but it wasn’t the same. The good news is, this is something that can be done any time. Just because I missed doing it in the fall didn’t mean I couldn’t do it another time. For example, the start of a new year is also a good time. So that’s what I did.
I blocked off my calendar, turned off all my devices, let my wife know what was going on, and I spent an entire afternoon clearing my mind, thinking about all aspects of my life, and in prayer. I call it a mind retreat. I highly recommend it.
I can go outside, stand in my driveway, look up at the sky and see beautiful things in the night sky. However, if I take the time to get away from the glow of the city, I’ll see so much more when I look at that same sky. Things that were impossible to see from my driveway are now visible and vibrant. It’s refreshing, energizing, inspiring, and rejuvenating.
Our minds are the same way. Take some time to remove yourself from all the noise and allow your mind to breathe. I believe that if you do this, you’ll discover answers for your life that were there all along but you just couldn’t see them.
I’m Darrell Darnell, and this has been Stuff I Learned Yesterday.
I want you to be a part of the next Monday Mailbag on March 31st! Monday Mailbag is your opportunity to Share what YOU’VE learned, so that other listeners and I can learn from YOU. It can be a message as short as 30 seconds or several minutes long. It really doesn’t matter just as long as it’s something that will benefit others. You can send in questions or responses to my SILY episodes, and I’ll respond to them via Monday Mailbag episodes. You can send in questions or responses to my SILY episodes, and I’ll respond to them via Monday Mailbag episodes. You can participate in Monday Mailbags by visiting the Golden Spiral Media listener feedback page.