I’m watching the latest CNN update about the Ukraine. My headphones are soaked from the sweat dripping down my brow. A middle-aged guy I kind of know, a few elliptical machines away, yells something over to me. I yank off my headset, reluctantly leaving Carol Costello in her chic scarlet dress.

“QUIET” he says to me in a very loud voice. “Pardon?” I whisper back to this overly energetic dude, still trying to be polite. “ Am I lifting my heels too loudly for you?”

“No,” he cackles. “Quiet is the name of a book I’m reading by Susan Cain and I think you’ll love it. It’s about the power of introverts and how undervalued they are in society. ”

“Okay!?!” I say with a smirk, wondering if he thinks I’m an introvert in need of empowerment. The monologue continues and all I can think of is I that I could definitely use some quiet right now.

Despite the disruption, all this discussion about being quiet gets me thinking about similar but overused self-indulgent words buzzing about.

What does “being in the moment” really mean? We’re often told to “focus” and not get distracted from the task at hand. But isn’t it bad to just focus and ignore everything else that’s going on around us? Some may even call this trait narcissistic.

I’m confused by these contemplative words and even more confused by what we’re supposed to do with them.

Clearly, “focusing” on the freezing cold weather this winter and bitching to everyone about it whenever possible, was not a good thing. I was thrilled when I recently met up with a friend for tea in minus 30 degree weather, and she told me about the birds she heard singing, leaving out the details of how she froze her ass off while parking her car.

We all focus or obsess about unnecessary things. The whole aging thing gets to me. Last week while vacationing in Miami to escape the deep freeze, my sister and I were stopped by a young man who overheard our kvetching about our stretched-out stomachs and dimpled buttocks.

“Can’t you see that you’re beautiful? a young beach bum yelled after us as we whisked by him on our speed walk. “Stop focusing on the negative,” he continued to shout his voice lingering for all to hear. Sometimes it takes a complete stranger to set things right.

On the other hand, going after what you really want with full force can be can be extremely satisfying. Watching the spectacular Olympians focus all their energy at Sochi 2014 was thrilling but also bittersweet. Many of us tuned into the grand opening ceremonies that glorified Russian history even though it skipped over the bloody parts about the mass killings of millions under the Bolshevik Regime.

And what about LGBT rights under Putin? Didn’t most of the world still watch the games choosing to overlook Russia’s controversial and despicable anti-gay laws?

And how many of us are actually watching the Paralympics Games now in Sochi with as much vigor as we did a few weeks ago? Does the media give these heroic individuals as much attention as their able-bodied counterparts? I don’t think so.

Even with a strict regiment of coaxing and coaching, I would have probably never made a great Olympian. And I’m not all that interested in signing up to do a triathlon which now seems to be the rage for us middle-aged well-kept Type A personality folks.

Although my kids think I have ADD, they’re wrong. The truth isohlooktheresadeeroutsidemywindow.