Distractions!

Distract- 1. to cause (someone) to stop thinking about or paying attention to someone or something and to think about or pay attention to someone or something else instead. 2. To take (attention) away from someone or something.

I am almost positive that my attention span is along the length of a five-year old’s. I can be set and focused on something and bam, just like that, I’m looking at something else or fiddling with something else! And when it comes to my phone..see how my thumb is set up, it has a mind of its own y’all. It really does. I’ll wake up first thing in the morning, take a few minutes to get my mind right, and get ready to get out of my bed to go have my quiet time with God. But if I forgot to turn off ALL social media apps the night before and I see those little red notifications just waiting to be opened, my thumb starts doing its own thing. The distraction is not my fault. Okay, maybe it is to a degree. Okay, okay, it is my fault.

But of course when I thought about how easily it is for me to become distracted, I also had this thought, distractions serve one purpose: TO KNOCK YOU, ME, US OFF COURSE! When we choose to take our focus off of what we’re doing or how we’re living and peak into the lives of others, we make room for couple of things to take place. I’m sure there’s more, but I’ll focus on two for now.

 1. Discouragement~ We look at that chick that has the body from the gods and the hair and face to match. Then we look down at our reality…that little pooch that gently rounds our waists. Our hair that is overdue for a professional touch. And those ever so stubborn breakouts on our face. Almost instantly, the thoughts come in, “Dang, I wish I could look like that!” Or “If I could only get rid of _______ (fill in the blank) I’ll be good.” Or “Must be nice to have kids and still look like that!” And the thoughts keep flooding in.

 2. Disappointment~ We look at social media at the accomplishments of others and then think over our lives and wonder why we aren’t as far as that person or as far as we should be.

Psalm 1:1(NKJV) says, “Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor stand in the path of sinners, nor sits in the seat of the scornful.” I’m not saying all of who we see are sinful, ungodly, or scornful. But what I am saying is that when we take our eyes off of our own path and set them onto someone else’s, we open the door to disappointment and discouragement.

#AuthenticMoment: When there’s no discipline and focus, distractions grow in strength and power.

The second & third verses of that same chapter (Psalm 1:2) says, “But his delight is in the law of the Lord, and in His law he meditates day and night. He shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that brings forth its fruit in its season, whose leaf also shall not wither; and whatever he does shall prosper.”

I understand from time to time our attention will get diverted to something or someone else. However, we have to be intentional not to allow those distractions dictate how we carry on in our own lives. God created every woman unique in her own way and right. We are gifted in so many things and areas. But when we open the door to distraction, we shut out and dull our potential. So girlfriend, turn off the apps, quit sulking over the extra “love” around your waist, slap on a weave, extensions, or what suits you, and keep moving in the uniqueness of your destiny.

#BeYOUtiful #AuthenticallySpoken #AuthenticallyMe #Unapologetic

(Definition source: Merriam-Webster Dictionary, 2016).

What we feed the most is what will grow!