Distracted

I needed a big dose of Harley therapy yesterday so I took off before the sun came up and headed south.  As I was riding down 45, I heard a loud rumbling noise but did not see the source at first.  When I heard it again, I looked over and saw an SUV hitting the rumble grooves on the shoulder of the freeway.  The fact that I could hear it over the sound of the Harley gives you an idea of the volume of the sound.  The fact they hit grooves a few times let me know to steer clear of them, as they were obviously not paying attention to their lane.  My guess is they were texting while driving, but I really did not want to get close enough to find out.

A few miles further down the road, I notice a blue SUV coming up on my right side at a high rate of speed.  I moved my lane position just to make sure I was out of the way.  The SUV is moving all over the lane then slows down.  As I pass them, there is woman driving with her knee, looking down at her phone, and texting with both hands.  Again, I got the heck away from her.

Last week a friend of mine was rear ended at a light.  They guy hopped out of the vehicle saying he was so sorry that he was texting and looked away for a second then hit her.  That little distraction got my friend a messed up vehicle, lots of soreness, and five tickets for the guy that hit her.

When I got off the bike, I was still thinking about the noise from the rumble grooves, the woman in the SUV, and my friend.  The events reminded me of all the levels of distraction we encounter daily.  We look away from our path and stumble over something on the trail.  A stray thought interrupts our thinking, and we brain fart.  You name it, and it can distract us.  Too many distractions lead can lead to an overload most commonly referred to as being overwhelmed.  For me, I can feel the overload building as things get cloudy in my head and my neck gets tense, literally.  That's when I know it is time to hit the road on the Harley, go for a walk, or maybe just get quiet in the Bubba chair to allow for time to process, prioritize and refocus.

If you feel you live in chaos or more than calm, maybe it is time to identity what is putting you there or better yet, what keeps you there.  The state of distraction should be the exception rather than the norm.