Tag: distractions

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Focus Friday: Let’s Focus on Good Distractions

What we think about is important.

You probably know that already. I talk about it often here on the blog and in my Facebook group: Catch Your Thoughts with Robyn Mulder.

Recently I wasn’t living as if I believed that. I got bogged down in tons of thoughts about some situations that have been bothering me. Nothing major, but letting my mind ruminate on all of the little worries was leading to lots of stress.

One day this week I grabbed a stack of old church bulletins from a box and went through them while I listened to some podcasts.

My eyes skimmed over the words as I decided what to do with each one. Most of them went in the recycling pile, but once in a while I added one to the little pile to keep.

Every single bulletin brought back good memories of our first church in Chandler, Minnesota. Names, places, sermon titles, yearly events, prayer concerns, births, weddings, and deaths all stirred my memory banks and had me reliving those early years of ministry.

As I sorted, I felt more peace. Thinking about Chandler and everything we did there got my mind off the niggling thoughts that were stressing me out. It was a good distraction.

It got me thinking about how I could choose to do that with other activities.

I could sit and play my guitar. Or listen to music. Or take a walk and enjoy the flowers planted around town. Or play in my craft room and make a card or paint a simple picture. Or read a good book.

There are lots of things I could do instead of ruminating on my worries.

Now, I’m not saying I should ignore them completely. They are real concerns, but it does me no good to just keep thinking about them constantly. I need to acknowledge that they’re bothering me, do what I can in some situations, admit I can do nothing about other situations, pray about all of them, and determine to keep living a good life through it all.

When the negative thoughts start spinning out of control, it’s time to get away from them with a good distraction.

“Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.” (Romans 12:2 NIV)

Do you ever get stuck in negative thoughts? How can focusing on God help you find a good distraction from your worries?

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Focus Friday: Let’s Focus on Distractions

Let your eyes look straight ahead; fix your gaze directly before you. Give careful thought to the paths for your feet and be steadfast in all your ways. Do not turn to the right or the left; keep your foot from evil. (Proverbs 4:25-27 NIV)

I’m starting this week’s post with a Bible verse so we make sure we know what we’re focusing on. We’re focusing on–

SQUIRRELS!

No, that’s not our focus for today. We have to keep our eyes looking straight ahead so we can go toward the prize and not get distracted by–

SQUIRRELS!

Okay, I’ll stop that before it gets way too annoying. It’s funny when we see that happen in a cartoon, isn’t it? The cute dog gets distracted and loses all of its focus when it catches a glimpse of one of those furry animals.

It’s much less funny when it happens to us. But it does happen, doesn’t it?

We start out our day determined to complete a task, work on a goal, get something done. Then the “squirrels” show up and we go off chasing them.

I’m sure everyone has different varieties of squirrels they chase.

I get distracted by too many emails in my inbox. I signed up for something recently and got on about 20 email lists. I delete quickly, but I can’t quite unsubscribe because I’m afraid I’ll miss something wonderful.

YouTube videos grab my attention. I’m watching something I wanted to see, and then I notice other videos that look interesting lined up along the right side of the screen.

There are all sorts of distractions that tempt us to get our eyes off the prize we’re headed toward: snacks between meals, TV shows, online shopping, and getting stuck in uncertainty (A big one for me – I don’t know what to do next, so I don’t do anything at all).

Joshua Becker over at becomingminimalist.com has a great article about 9 things that can distract us and keep us from living fully. You can click over and read the whole article, but here are a few distractions that hit me hard: Thinking too much about tomorrow, pursuing perfection, ruminating on regrets, and spending too much time comparing ourselves to others.

I’m convinced that the more we resist going after the distractions around us and inside us, the happier and more fulfilled we’ll be. If you don’t believe me, just try–

SQUIRRELS!

“Keep your eyes straight ahead; ignore all sideshow distractions. Watch your step, and the road will stretch out smooth before you. Look neither right nor left; leave evil in the dust. ” (Proverbs 4:25-27 The Message)

Are you often distracted by things going on around you or thoughts inside your head? How can focusing on God help you to ignore those distractions and move forward with Him?

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Super Saturday: Let’s Focus on Following

tail lights for blog

I learned a lesson about following yesterday.

Actually, it was about not following.

You see, Gary and I took a long day trip to pick up a new car way east of Sioux Falls. It was a salvage vehicle with low miles and a price too good to pass up. On the way back through Sioux Falls we made a couple of stops to shop and eat, and then we left town. We didn’t go back to the Interstate, deciding to take the route that would get us to Highway 44 instead. The GPS was in the car with Gary and I was following.

We made several turns in town and then we were going down 57th Street. I had gotten a couple of texts about something going on with the praise team on Sunday morning, so I decided it would be a good idea to call about it for a second and clarify what was going on.

As soon as I hung up, I realized that I wasn’t sure if Gary was in front of me and just that quick he called me. “Did you turn behind me?” he asked.

“No, I think I might have missed it,” I answered. “I was on the phone.”

I’ll spare you the gory details of the next several minutes of us trying to figure out where I was and how I was going to get to where he was.

I turned around and went back to a stop light and turned south, but that got me to a residential area that didn’t go through to the south.

I went back to 57th Street and finally found another road to go south on. 

Somewhere in all of that driving around, I remember Gary commenting in disbelief: “All you had to do was stay on my bumper and follow me.”

Well, to make a long story a little shorter, I hung up with him and put Platte into my phone and got the directions to come up and guide me to where I had to go. Gary checked in a couple more times to make sure I was on my way, but we figured out that he was at least twenty minutes ahead of me. He could get in the garage, but the house key was, of course, in the car with me. 

I finally got home at about midnight and we could put that fiasco behind us and go to bed.

I can’t help but think of how often I mess up in similar ways when I’m supposed to be following God.

Just like driving in the dark, sometimes I can’t see much of anything ahead, but I can see those bright tail lights guiding me along. My only job is to keep my eyes on them and follow. 

When I’m following God, I usually can’t see the future very clearly. I’m in the dark, but if I’m paying attention, I can see the next steps God has for me, lighting the way like tail lights in front of me.

If I get distracted by something else, I can lose sight of those steps and waste time and energy getting back on track.

Faithful following will get me where God wants me to be, right on time and without confusion.

I’ll remember that the next time I have to follow my husband anywhere as well.

“Then he called the crowd to him along with his disciples and said: ‘Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me.‘” (Mark 8:34 NIV)

Do you get distracted when you’re following God? How can focusing on God help you to follow more faithfully?