When I’m looking at the news and I’m seeing the craziness going on at these health care town hall meetings, I can’t help but thinking about how unfocused this whole thing has become. Really, what’s at issue is that there are a lot of people who are uninsured or under-insured. There needs to be a way to make sure they have adequate healthcare. That’s all. People are getting all hamstrung about having their voices heard and that’s important. But I can’t help but think that the real issue is being forgotten about.

Sometimes we get so caught up in talking that we forget what we were talking about. It’s hard because when you care about something, emotions run high. But you can’t lose sight of what’s really important. That’s in anything you do. In my opinion, whether you’re talking about work or community interests or personal goals, losing focus is the number one obstacle to getting things done. I say this because people like me stop paying attention until we get back to the point.

When a meeting is going off the rails around me, you can bet that I’m going to try to get it back on course. My attention span is getting shorter as I age and I need us to get to the action quick.
If that’s not possible or permissible, I’m usually drawing a picture or something. Whenever we get back to the real issue, I’m ready to talk. But until then…

Personal focus is important too. I’m guilty of forgetting what’s important in my life and getting sidetracked with minor details. Everything can’t be on the front burner – that’s why there are back burners. Focusing on the end results of my real personal goals, and not that other stuff, helps me formulate a plan and not become discouraged with the sometimes seemingly insurmountable steps of the plan. A lot of times, focusing on the end result is the only thing that will keep you going.

My feelings about health care reform are not the topic of this post. If you really want to know, let me know and I’ll tell you. I already let my representatives know. The point is that productivity slows to a standstill when we forget what’s important. I’m not sure anyone even knows what the argument is about at these town hall meetings anymore. Enough fussing for the sake of fussing. Keeping in mind the importance of the issue, especially to the millions of people who are uninsured, would help people deal with one another with a lot more respect.