Distractions - Use Them Wisely

We all easily succumb to distractions. When we need an excuse to not do something we know we need to do, there they are. Distractions are the very things that keep us from truly living our lives to the fullest. However, if we use distractions as tools, things can become very different, very fast.

We use distractions as tools to help us not do what we know we need to do. They temporarily relieve stress, but what we fail to remember is that because we acquiesced to the distraction, we gained two very important things. One, we gain the ability to beat ourselves up and the ability to add more stress to our day. Doesn't seem like this is something we gain, does it? Yet we actually long and look for distractions. We expend much energy searching for them, and we get real good at it, really fast.

Let's see at how we can turn this around. Just look at how interesting the synonyms for distraction are: interruption, disruption, commotion, disturbance, diversion, entertainment, hobby, and pastime. If we just look at how these can be depleting, we can see where distractions lead us. The distraction interrupts us from a current task, or one we're about to begin. The interruption disrupts that place of feeling stuck, so there seems to be movement because we're doing something, different but we're doing something. Then the disruption leads us to commotion, mainly within our thoughts and feelings, which then leads to us to becoming disturbed by having given into the distraction. This disturbance then moves us to justify our lack of action by telling ourselves we needed to be entertained because we were stuck. This sense of entertainment
can easily become a hobby we more and more easily want to take part in. Then the hobby of being distracted becomes a pastime, thereby passing the time to our detriment. Interesting progression, isn't it?

An interesting distraction just came up as I write this article. A sentence ago, a jackhammer in front of my neighbor's house, closest to the window I write near, started screaming its presence. My mind went into so many other things I could do rather than stay where I am, listening to this annoying noise; I could step into the other side of the house where I could paint undisturbed by the jarring noise, do the laundry, leave the house and go shopping, a multitude of possibilities came so easily to distract me from the flow of my writing. Do I succumb? No, I simply choose to use the distraction as a tool to increase my focus so dulled the sound a bit by turning up the music. It may have been easier to start painting or doing anything other than completing the task at hand but I chose to allow myself to use this distraction to go into a deeper focus and continue my work. In using the distraction as a tool, consciously, I brought myself to a deeper and stronger connection to the joy of writing.

The point of this is that we can use anything, anything, that comes our way to step toward what we want, even distractions. Use the distractions that come to you as a tool, a tool to become adjust your focus, to strengthen the feeling of what you do want or as a pause to enjoy a moment or two of visualizing actually feeling that you enjoy what you want right now; picture yourself at your best - and doing this will build your confidence and begin attracting to you what you want. Feel the goose bumps of living the great life you imagine for yourself.

When you use your distractions as a tool, you will become more aware of what habit of thought is trying to draw you away from your dream. There is a duality in virtually everything and when we recognize this, we can use what we once thought was a wall in our way as a stepping stone toward what we want to be experiencing. Use your negative thoughts and feelings when they come to you as places to start moving toward positively focusing on good feeling thoughts, feelings and actions; these become your stepping stones.

Enjoy noticing the distractions in your life as a tool to focus more consciously how you can transform them into the stepping stones that lead you across the bridge from where you are to where you want to be.