Today we are going to talk about distractions. A distraction is something that diverts attention and prevents concentration.
We live in a society where we have not just daily distractions, but distractions by the minute and by the second. Have you ever stopped to wonder why it is so hard to put the smartphone or tablet down and turn the TV off?
In a time when so many of us feel there are not enough hours in the day, so many of us still fill our time by keeping our minds on moving images that do not benefit us in any real way. We would rather stare at mindlessness than spend a few minutes alone with ourselves to observe where we really are.
We are what our thoughts are. We are where our thoughts are. All that we feel and experience lies in our thoughts.
I see people who, when they have even a minute alone, such as when they are out to dinner with a friend and the friend goes to the bathroom, immediately reach for their phone. In that minute, there could have been a moment to review the day or simply sit in silence.
Take a moment and ask yourself why distractions are needed. What is in the silence that is fearful? When distractions become our attractions, it often means that we are running away from ourselves.
Our thoughts and feelings become the distractions to our technological devices, which can only lead to complete disconnection from ourselves. In the long run, when we learn the ability to be present with ourselves and have oversight of our own psyches, we start to really live rather than simply function.
