Getting Past the Distractions

                                                           Ironically, this is your distraction.

There is something about recent times where we find ourselves indulging in distractions just to make it through the day, just to get us to not think about what we know we ought to. Fear is the word, the preventative disease and sickness stopping us from what really needs to get done.

I believe it’s possible to get so sucked up into distraction that it feels like you can’t “turn off” because we are so deep in our own doing. This “fear” of silence or doing what we want to, can be hard to swallow, heck, I am doing it right now as I write this article.

So let’s get through this together. What fears lie inside us that got us to where we are right now? Fear of failure, fear of success, fear of facing anything…? The list goes on. Maybe we are so caught up in it, we don’t even know or can’t even fathom that there is anything wrong with our distractions.

But we must meet them one day or at least a little bit daily.

Let’s Replace One “D” Word with Another: Discipline

I feel like this word doesn’t have the same meaning or drive that it once did, but let’s change that. What is discipline in the world of the internet? What is too much social virtual action? Before you had to be personable, now you have to be over the top in “spread-thin-ness” (always online, all the time, always connected)!

 The only way to function it seems is to check in with what our friends, strangers, and with that the world is doing. But we really need to slow down or even stop. There was a time where people used to enjoy places without taking a picture and posting it? What kind of life is that? One we really need to get back to.

We’ve got to start tapering back some of our “unhealthy” behavior. We have this need to be up to speed with everything… always. But somewhere in the middle, we need to be human and that means disconnected because we are not machines. But here is a technologically savvy simile for you, like a laptop when my batteries are drained and depleted, give me a break! Don’t worry I’ll turn back on, but give me at least a 70% charge!

I am in my mid 20’s and see a stark difference from my childhood-self playing in the streets, basketball and tag, in comparison to the stressed out, always going or always vegging out person I am today (funny how the extremes really do go hand in hand). Where is the true peace (for some it is balance) that once existed? Now I only find it on my Pinterest, as I pin thousands of  peace pins, but somehow I am missing the point.

Life used to feel like it was really going, you know? Days were long and full of activity. Now this white screen goes wherever I go and my mind is always thinking about it, what lies behind the next click… I have the whole universe to explore in-person, real-life, it doesn’t get better than that,  but the charm and sinister deceptive nature of this screen just won’t go away. It is irresistible or so it seems. I must overpower it with my own will, with my own discipline.

Reminding Myself of the Goal I Have

Life used to be something I lived! It was my life that ebbed and flowed and moved forward. Now I am drowning in the circumstances, as Mondays blend into Thursdays, and 3:00 AM  has become my morning wake up call.

The “goal” is what keeps me going, it strives and pushes me forward, sometimes dragging me along unwillingly but fearfully and wonderful in its essence. My calling’s work is not necessarily my day job. There is dread associated with modern times, but it can be revived and baptized all the time, that is of course, when I give attention to the problem and try to give it a remedy.

Believe

Let me tell you this beautiful word can do wonders. Escaping is good momentarily, but in large doses can be lethal to the soul, sucked out, strained out, oh so spread. Gain back your willpower and believe time will find you again, or at least you will learn to appreciate it,  as life and you catch up to each other. Unity in ambiguity, streamlined life in uncertainty, as the world goes as it should. You are unfolding your pages of life, you can’t skim through this book, you must be present in each sentence and chapter, and understand the underlying message and symbolism because in that you will find purpose. I guess that’s the goal, because I am still lost, but we can be lost together from human to human.

See you when I get there.

Good luck!