I wanted to share a story with you that keeps me on track with what is important versus what is urgent.
A friend once told me about a discussion he heard in which a paramedic likened many people’s overly busy lives to car accidents. He said when arriving at a scene of destruction, someone who is untrained in procedures will often tend to take notice of the victims who are screaming, have minor injuries and attracting a lot of attention.
In making this choice, they will neglect the ones who are not arousing attention and who are often quietly slipping away.
A trained professional paramedic will quickly identify and first attend to those victims who are not conscious and getting oxygen or who are unconscious. While the loud victims are able to move and are getting plenty of air to shout and scream, it is the silent victims who are in the most dangerous situation and whose needs are most important.
How often do we sacrifice the important for the urgent?
How often does that turn out to be only more important for someone else’s comfort and agenda rather than being a real emergency?
The moral to this parable was that the most important things in your life will often not scream or cry out, said my friend, but will quietly slip away amid the din of the urgent and one day you will realise they are gone and that now the really important thing cannot be revived.
We need to constantly remind ourselves of what’s really important and be aware that time is always moving on. We need time to reflect and determine what is of real value and who and what is worthy of our attention and effort.
Our relationships with loved ones, our spiritual life, our finances and our overall health need to be kept in order at the first level, above all, to be good for the journey ahead.
While we need one eye on our future direction, we need the other to not neglect our responsibilities towards the people and necessities of where we are right now. This focus frees Tourette’s and OCD people (like me) to prioritise our attention and energies, no longer ‘stopping to throw stones at every dog that barks’. Ask an older person, and they often tell you that time is precious and to allocate it to things of real value that are going to last.
Things will always scream for our attention, and ‘upset people’ will always be upset because we do not attend to their ‘urgencies’ according to their requirements.
As Jim Rohn once said, “If you don’t design your own life plan, chances are you’ll fall into someone else’s plan and guess what they have planned for you – not much”.
Remember that being different is our biggest asset and we don’t have to be like everyone else. If you need a keynote speaker or presenter on neurodiversity, private message me today to book your next presentation.
As a neurodiverse public speaker and presenter, Dave Brebner specialises in using educational neuroscience to explore pathways for professionals and engage in inclusive discussions for diverse audiences. Living with Tourette’s Syndrome, Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder, ADHD, and Anxiety Disorders since an early age, he is married with six children and one grandchild. He recently added a Master of Educational Neuroscience to his qualifications to further deepen his understanding of the neurodiverse mind, including his qualifications in Trades & Training, Adult Education, Vocational and Workplace Training, and a Master of Education degree in Career Development. Dave is a professional member of the Career Development Association of Australia, and you can learn more about Dave’s work at www.davebrebner.com.
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I also give larger presentations at symposiums, conferences, and exhibitions, sharing my story and an Australian perspective on positive ways to beat the stigma of Tourette’s Syndrome.
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