Oh Look– Something Shiny! (Five Minute Friday)

Greetings all! It is Friday (whoot!) and if you have been hanging ’round these parts for a hot minute, you know that Fridays can only mean one thing…

Five Minute FridayProductivity is optional.

(Just kidding. If you are at work, you better get busy before your boss reads this over your shoulder and you end up having a “Come to Jesus” chat with him.)

But seriously. Fridays mean it is time for Five Minute Friday.

Each week, I link up with my friend Lisa-Jo Baker. She gives us a prompt and we free-write for five minutes flat. No over-thinking, no OCD perfectionistic editing.

Just go with it. Which I do believe is a perfect attitude for a Friday.

So my fingers are itching… Let’s do this.

Today’s prompt: FOCUS

Ready? GO!

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Books, pens and supplies are scattered around my work station. I am deep in thought, brow crinkling, eyes focused on the task at hand. Just a few more final…

OH LOOK! SOMETHING SHINY!!!!!!!

Sigh. Does this ever happen to you? I don’t know, maybe I’m the only one. (Although I kind of doubt it… No offense, just saying based on how my friends and I function, I don’t think I am alone in this.)

Keeping focus can be a full time job. Sure, when I am by myself and motivated, its pretty easy for me to work on a project or remain zeroed in on the task at hand until it is completed. But if I am around other people or I’m having “one of those days…” I find myself distracted by something shiny.

Those distractions can stem from procrastination (Oh, look, the kitchen floor is FILTHY! Better clean it before I sit down to work on my latest project.) Or perhaps just the buzzing culture that we have become accustomed to (I really need to check Facebook. Like, now. I mean, somebody could have gotten engaged or had a baby in the last 17 minutes.) 

But sometimes the distractions that take away our focus are a little more intense. They can come from The Enemy as he tries to take our focus off of The One who is our everything in life.

Satan doesn’t just use inconveniences or “bad” things to rob our focus from following Christ. He oftentimes will use something good to distract us from God’s best. (But that’s another blog post.)

Focusing on what is TRULY important can be difficult. But let’s remember– if we are easily distracted by “something shiny,” God is the light of the world– and nothing gets “shinier” than that.

STOP!

****

Do you sometimes struggle with focusing on the important things in life (namely: God)? What “shiny” thing typically distracts you? How do you think we can stay on track and keep our focus clear? I always adore hearing your feedback. Leave a comment below.

Moving forward with focus,
SGK

“The man looked hard and realized that he had recovered perfect sight, saw everything in bright, twenty-twenty focus.” ~Mark 8:25 (MSG) 

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