16) 5 Tips to Overcome Distractions. Recognise Avoidance.

 

By Sindy Wakeham

You know you’re onto something when a note you’ve taken about what someone else said pops into your mind that connects dots and a clear vision of a principle or idea opens itself to you. Your heart swells and excitement fills you to the point of bubbling over!

I’ve just had just one of those moments. My morning scripture study led me to look at notes I took from a Myron Golden seminar, which led me to think about a loved one in a dark place mentally.  Then, I asked myself a searching question.

Before I reveal the self-searching question I heard in my head, I would like to share a bit of the exploration that led to the ‘revelation’ before we get there.

A scripture study of Matthew 6:33, “But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and all these things shall be added unto you” led me down a rabbit hole of study and exploration.

I went off on a tangent of cross referencing, reading and pondering.

This led me to scriptures about stewardship and being free with your substance to make others ‘rich like unto you’.

That led to abundant mindset principles which I have found to be perfectly reflective of Christian attributes as taught by Christ himself. “Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy” (law of abundance or actually Law of the Harvest)

There are loads of abundance scriptures. I’ve been down lots of scripture rabbit holes.

Psalms 37:4 to 11 ended in ‘the abundance of peace’. The spiritual peace that comes from living the gospel and the abundance attached.

It brought to mind previous studies into what the word ‘prosper’ means; that wealth is more than money and riches. Wealth and prosperity aren't always what you think.

This led me to Proverbs 13:2 “A man shall eat good by the fruit of his mouth”. This implies the law of the harvest merely by our words, let alone actions.

Which is exactly what Myron Golden was talking about in one of his talks when he said this; “every deed is a seed. Every $ is a seed. Every WORD is a seed we are sowing into the garden of our future”.

That led to my notes from another of Myron Golden’s seminars (I can’t remember which one), in which he mentions distractions and the words amuse and amusement.

A = against, Muse = to think/thinking. 

Therefore amusement is against thinking.

This is where a penny dropped for me. That, my friends, is one aspect of personal revelation. These are moments when I KNOW that my prayers are heard. They're also scary moments because with an answer comes the accountability as to how I use the answer. 

So what’s this got to do with escaping the Dole?  

Stay with me. You can’t rush some things.

The penny dropping on the topic of amusement, distractions and thinking of this loved one struggling had me recognising that the issue of persistent distraction revealed a mind unable to deal with many other issues that are too difficult and painful.

‘If I’m distracted, I don’t have to think. I don’t have to face the pain’. If I stay in the distraction, I can be happy in an alternate reality of my own making’. It's avoiding pain. My heart melted. Guilt filled my mind. I had just reminded this person that they hadn’t been a teenager for a long time, and their behaviour was not ok. 

It has been affecting our household negatively. The consequences of our distractions ripple outward and affect others too. But in this moment of realisation, I understood because I knew many of their issues and pains. I felt compassion toward them.

It doesn’t excuse the behaviour nor let them off the hook but I could understand why they are stuck in a time loop of sorts, never progressing, never able to move forward and find relief.  

THEN the question came to me...

AM I DISTRACTED?

Am I avoiding something? I might not be distracted by amusements but how long has it taken to get to this stage of my self-reliance journey?

Of course there's the time it takes to learn the different elements and skills to use the tools I had to gain over time without funds. Even here, I have to admit I got distracted by learning.

You know what I mean if you’ve ever begun learning from a few YouTube videos. First one topic and you find many videos on that topic or related ones. You're so busy learning, you don’t put into action what you have learned. You just get stuck in learning mode.

Oooooh, oh dear!

If distraction or amusement is avoidance of something difficult, painful or fearful, what am I afraid of?

Why do I often feel like I’m stuck in a hamster wheel I desperately want to escape from and the tools and means are provided but I still keep treading?

Could it be the fear of jumping off the wheel and getting hurt? Would escaping the system cause us even more financial hardship (elaborated on in my book) and we lose everything?  

Could it be the fear of not being able to carry out my goals and meet our needs? Or could it be something more egotistical, like looking like a failure to you all when I’m harping on about abundance mindset and what I’m GOING achieve to or AM achieving? Maybe there's an element of embarrassment or impostor syndrome.

I have to confess, I feel very exposed and vulnerable revealing this to you.

'What If' Bridges and Forks, Decisions and Choices

The problem is that I (and you) cannot go forward until we face the negative, painful and fearful steps which are the very bridges to our goals and freedom from that hurt, pain and fear, or even to financial freedom.

That’s the ‘What if’ fork in the road. What if I get hurt or hurt others financially or otherwise? What if I fail in public? What if this is the wrong route?

The thing about a fork is that it has more than one prong. A fork has at least two prongs (fruit fork) like a fork in the road. A dinner fork has at least three. A garden fork has at least four.

A fork in life can have many ‘prongs’, avenues or choices. Distractions or amusements numb  the need to find our own courage. Courage is not the absence of fear but having the resolve and taking action to face, overcome or navigate in spite of our fears.

It can be scary to accept that there are some forks that we have to take ourselves. Nobody else can choose for us. There are bridges meant only for us and some are just there in the way, not meant for anyone in particular but obstacles in the course of life. Like exercising muscles, making us stronger.

Get over them or get around them but get moving!  

I’m not yet standing in front of that bridge but treading the hamster wheel right next to it and it looks like a rocky one but my goal is in view on the other side. I’m digging deep for my courage and clasping at tools to show me how. Just have the first aid kit at hand, will you.

I know it’s one I have to take myself but I’m not alone. I have to choose to act and I know that there are many people encouraging me and standing ready with first aid kit to dress the grazed knees, wipe the tears and comfort the troubled mind.

With every step forward, the journey gets easier as we become accustomed to the pace and increase. When we look back we might ask, ‘what was the big deal?! How did I let that stop my progress?’

These tangents of learning, pondering and personal revelation are precious. They are some of the tools provided to help us find our courage and forward momentum. They help open our eyes and even turn us from looking at the splinter in our brother’s eye while having a beam in our own. To me they are loving reminders of a Parent’s guidance and our potential to do more than we think we can.   

What amusements and distractions are keeping you from reaching your goals? Is it really the lack of funds or knowledge and skills or something else?

Is there something more serious in your life leading you to feel the need to be be distracted or entertained constantly? (I don't want the answer to this one. That's very personal. Please do ask for help from medical professionals in the field of mental health and charities like MIND).

Realising you have a problem because you are constantly distracted or looking for amusement and entertainment, is the first step to making your goals of freedom of any kind a reality.

Next time in this series; Clear Out, Organise and Harmonise. 

I so look forward to reading your conversations.

You’ve got this. WE’VE got this.