The other day, I was walking from my last class to where my dad was going to pick me up. I was eager to get out because multiple people had texted me during class and I wanted to respond to them.

So I'm walking to where my dad is waiting for me, and texting to a friend of mine - a combination of my mad T9 texting skillz and sharp peripheral vision.

But as I was walking, I suddenly realized what I looked like.

Have you ever wondered what you look like to other people? Not in that oh-my-goodness-I-hope-I-look-okay sort of way.

Because the other day, I realized that I looked exactly like the typical teenagers I complain about.

I complain about teens who are always online, always texting, always caught up in some social network -- oblivious to the world around them. Who are living mediocre, worthless lives and wasting it away by doing dumb things.

But that day, I didn't look any different from any of them.

Granted, I have a prehistoric, pre-paid, plastic-y flip phone -- but I was lost in my own little world.

It reminded me of a post my friend Sabam made the awhile back, about (ironically) one of my favorite tenth avenue north songs (are you surprised?) -- about missing what's beautiful.

What kind of "pretty things" (or "shiny!" as my friend Paul says) steal my heart away? Computers and cell phones are great, but can they really replace a good long run in the autumn sunshine? Or a morning spent watching the sunrise?

We're easily distracted. It's easy to "take a break" from the technology and spend time outside. But how quickly do we come back to it? How quickly are we distracted?

I don't want to be easily distracted. Yeah, sometimes I embrace my weirdness enjoy chasing my butterflies. But there are things that matter more.

My friends, my family, my siblings - how often do I say "not right now" to them as I type away furiously at some email my friend won't get for the next few days anyway?

I won't be able to drink in the beauty of the world God has created around me if my focus is somewhere else. What sort of things am I missing because my focus is somewhere it shouldn't be? I don't want to be always busy.

postscript:
This post has actually been in my drafts for months, but it's ironic that I'm posting it right after the one below. Guess I'd better take to heart a bit of my own words... ;)