If you watched a lot of cartoons as a kid (and what Gen X-er didn’t?), then you remember the classic Bugs Bunny cartoon where Elmer Fudd brings Bugs home for dinner (rather, as dinner) only to have the “wascawwy wabbit” dupe him into thinking there is a terrible outbreak of “rabbititus” and that they must be quarantined.
For years as a child, I always worried that if I saw the twirling red and yellow spots in the air like Elmer Fudd did, then I had contracted some strange disease and it was time to panic. Luckily, that never happened, but it is amazing what things make impressions on you as a kid.
Thinking of moments like that make me realize the tremendous impact today’s scares of real life anthrax or smallpox could have on a child (if they can understand the news that is). You never realize how fortunate you are when you know that the worse thing to scare you about infectious diseases as a kid was a Bugs Bunny cartoon. But this is a blog for another day.
Nevertheless, my point is that the old concept of “rabbititus” came to mind again when I read this quote this past weekend: “If you chase two rabbits, you will not catch either one.” - Russian Proverb
While I’m certain this proverb has been around for a while (since how many people do you know chase rabbits? You’d just use a gun now), it has become valid in a new way. Chasing two rabbits and catching neither is American multitasking defined. It is the New Rabbititus. And I would bet 95% of our population is infected, including myself.
In one way or another, it could be said that the collective American attitude is to want it all. (Note the word ‘collective’ for you humble denialists out there.) For it’s an absolute that no person would turn down the opportunity to be wealthy enough to live comfortably, to have and do anything they want, to help out their friends and family with their riches, and enjoy it all.
The unfortunate reality of this truth is that most of us will never get to that level of wealth. But that doesn’t stop us all from trying, nor should it. It’s the American Dream to get well paid for the work we slave over, to live large like the lavish celebrities we are subjected to watching on television.
Thus, the only way that most of us have any means to make that happen is to multitask our lives into a state of constant juggling, hoping that if somehow we can catch a break somewhere— it will be our ticket to the high life. It seems like we follow the faint hope that the two rabbits will accidentally run into each other and we can catch them both.
So, is it worth it to get “infected” with the New Rabbititus? Well, despite your odds being low at any stellar success, it’s not impossible. Hard work and multitasking are like gambling— someone eventually has to win at it, but there’s no guarantee that it will be you, no matter how you play the game.
I believe the important lesson we should take from the proverb in our multitasking lifestyles is not just to chase one rabbit until we catch it— but after we do, we cannot stop to catch our breath. You must keep running to catch the other one before it gets too far away. Hard work is nothing with the organization to focus it on one definitive goal at a time.
So stop chasing everything in life all at once. Take a deep breath and catch that which is most important first. This will help you immensely… unless of course, you start to see red and yellow spots twirling in the air. Then maybe you might want to think about taking a day off.