MAY I HAVE YOUR ATTENTION?

I have always had the attention span of a gnat.  When I was in school my report cards would often have notes that said "eager to learn but needs to work slower" which meant I would jump from one thing to another, my mind going a million miles a minute.  Nowadays I would probably be labeled ADD.  Mother just called me a wiggle worm. 

I learned early on how to sit still by going inside my head and  tapping a foot or finger where no one could see so I wouldn't draw attention to myself.  When I learned to read, books became my escape.  My daughter tells me I missed nearly all of the 70's and the 80's with my head buried in a book.  It wasn't until I went to collage, in my forties, and went to work full time that I began to come out of my shell but it wasn't easy and old habits die hard.  

While I was trying to decide what word I would pick to work on this year I began to think about all the things I still don't pay attention to because I am inside my head or jumping from one thing to another or what I ignore and put on the back burner because I get distracted.     

I wondered, what have I missed and what would happen if I paid attention to one thing at a time...if I listened with all my attention when someone talks to me instead of interrupting with a thought or an opinion before I even know what they are saying.

What if I paid attention to details like saying please and thank you instead of taking people for granted and if I apologized when I am wrong but quit apologizing automatically if someone is not happy with who I am or what I believe.

How would my life change if I ask for attention (and help) when needed instead of trying to do everything myself and if I listened with attention to my body when it spoke to me.

What would happen if I  paid attention to 'now', each hour of each day. 

...AT THE END OF THE DAY... what will happen if I choose ATTENTION as my word for 2013?  Stay tuned and find out...I know I'll be paying attention.