Jun 302010
Patty & I were talking about Abby Sunderland’s press conference and a comment she made. Why is the “big story” the accident and rescue — instead of a 16 year old succeeding to sail 12,000 miles? I don’t know about you, but I heard nothing about the first 11,999 miles… it wasn’t a “story” until she was lost. It raises important questions about where we, the media-plugged-in-world, choose to put our attention.
Is this the norm, and how does that affect the way we see the world?
In our daily lives, and all the ups and downs we face a dozen times a day, where do we each choose to focus? And how does that focus affect us?
Joshua Freedman
Part of the Six Seconds' founding team, Josh is one of the world leading experts on emotions, change, and performance. One of a handful of people with proven experience creating organizational performance through EQ, Freedman leads a world-wide network of EQ change agents. (sd)
Interesting question – both your’s and Abby’s. Here’s a case where I believe Abby could have used some much-needed perspective and EQ. While it is true that almost everybody slows down to take a look at accidents on the expressway – blame it on curiosity or human nature – in this case, Abby is forgetting the thousands of people on Facebook who followed her “story” and every impression, articulated thought and move prior to the unfortunate storm that ended her quest. For the first 11,999 miles she received thousands of comments and well-wishes from thousands of fans – who lived and dreamed their own “big story” vicariously through her for many, many weeks. For the first 11,999 miles they chose to focus their attention on one thing – rooting for her, sharing their adoration, pouring their heart out to her – so it is only natural when the tides turned, so to speak, it appeared that the “big story” had changed. It hadn’t – for despite the headlines there are just as many Facebook fans sending her wishes and following her every move, even today. It’s all a matter of what we choose to turn our attention to and how we choose to frame it. Tomorrow the big story will once again be how a 16 year old succeeded to sail 12,000 miles.