As a speaker, I’ve become keenly aware of the audience’s attention span. Nothing will mess with your mind more than seeing people look at their watch when you’re speaking or, worse, checking their emails. Several years ago, I heard something that served me quite well. I was told that the attention span of a middle school kid was about five minutes long. My experience agrees. Here’s the interesting thing: the attention span of an adult is probably about the same length of time; however, they just don’t let you know that you’ve lost them. They’ll look at you, smile, nod, and it appears they’re listening, but you’ve lost them all the same.
What is it that captures your attention? Sports? Movies? People? Politics? Those items of interest probably change over time. But this is what I know about you. The older you get, the more search for significance dominates your thinking. It certainly gets my attention.
Vocabulary.com defines significance as “a sign of its importance. The significance of something can be implicit or explicit — meaning it can be clear or only known with a deeper understanding of the situation.” As you age, you recognize that “time” is not your friend. Therefore, your attention tends to turn to essential things in life. You focus your energy and resources on supporting significant items or personally making a difference that will last…in other words, “significance.”
That begs the question, “Why wait?” The Apostle Paul put it this way: “Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things.” Philippians 4:8