Easily Distracted

(Heb 12:1) ...let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us...

(1Co 7:35) And this I speak for your own profit...that ye may attend upon the Lord without distraction.

How is your focus? Are you able to maintain a "tunnel vision" when it comes to things of the Lord? Are your eyes set steadfast on the things of God?

How about other areas of your life, are you steadfastly dedicated to the duties that are laid out before you? Or, are you easily distracted? Will any excuse do, at any time, for any reason; to put off doing what you know you need to do?

Maybe you have made a commitment to God to be more diligent in prayer or in setting aside consistent time for study of the Bible. Maybe you believe that God has been leading you to step out of your comfort zone and actually come alongside another person, knowing that there will be a commitment of time and energy, if you are received by that person. Or, maybe it is as common as getting school work done, housework done, or even work-work done. Are you feeling burned out, stressed out or discouraged and you lack the emotional energy to be diligent.

Is the routine of your duties beginning to get to you? Or, are you way past "beginning to get to you"?

If you can relate to any of the above, you are not alone! Probably all of us go through times like this every now and then. It is not unusual, in fact, it is very common. There are probably as many reasons for feeling like this as there are areas to apply the results. Spiritually, you may be in battle with the enemy for the control of your time. Satan does not want you to be a serious servant. With work, it may be a common case of burnout.

That is where I find myself, lately. Being self-employed for most of my adult life and currently in a situation where I am working alone most of the time, a fairly high level of dedication has to be there to stay on top of my responsibilities. As you can imagine, sitting and typing one appraisal after another, year after year, is not real exciting. I am thankful for my job and for the job I have. I feel very blessed that I have been able to do this as a career and be my own boss. Appraisal work has provided a fairly consistent income for a long time. But, I am once again, where I have found myself at times in the past, burned out on typing appraisals. Over the past few weeks, I have found myself struggling to make myself do what I need to do. A lot of the time, I have lost that struggle and have been easily distracted. Right now, I am an example of letting any excuse be a reason to not sit and type the next report. I also notice that I have a harder time when I am too tired.

The excuse we each use can be varied from time to time. We can justify the distraction, usually only to ourselves, if it is something else that has some level of importance - such as needing to water the plants in the yard so they will not die or write a blog about being easily distracted. Or, we realize there can be no justification for some distractions - such as letting a mind-numbing, time-wasting computer card game (Free Cell) gobble up an hour here and there. There is nothing wrong with Free Cell, it is fun to play and challenging, but it can also be almost addictive. When I win one game, I want to play again to see how long of a winning streak I can get. You get the picture.

What do you do when you are feeling burned out? How do you get focused, again? What is your secret?

Here is what I am doing about it: first, I just prayed and asked for help to get back to my responsibilities and be diligent to get my work done on time; second, we are taking a break from our responsibilities at work and enjoy visiting with kids and grandkids for a few days. The break will be good for both of us. In the past, I have been able to come back to work, after a break, and get back to business. So, for a few days, the office will be off limits, the phone will just have to ring, and visiting and resting will be the priority.

So, pray for me and if you are also dealing with similar matters, let us know and we will pray for you as well. I am trusting God to help me get done the reports that have to be finished over the next couple weeks. I am trusting Him for the energy and focus needed to not yield to distractions.

And, unless something really important comes up, I will make myself leave this blog alone for a few days and type appraisals instead of typing here. For those of you who do take time to read here, I appreciate that, be patient with me and I will be back soon. Writing on this blog is something that I really enjoy and I have plans for the future that include articles that I trust will help us grow spiritually, help us understand civics better, offer some interesting pieces of our history as Americans, and of course; political comments, family stories, favorite people acknowledgements, etc.