Posts Tagged: distractions can be good or bad

“The Art of Distracting Ourselves with Small White Stones”

On July 5, 2023 by Dteb With 0 Comments - down to earth believer

“Let your eyes look directly forward,

            and your gaze be straight before you.

Ponder the path of your feet;

            then all your ways will be sure.

 Do not swerve to the right or to the left;

            turn your foot away from evil.” (Proverbs 4:25-27, English Standard Version)

A couple of friends of mine were out walking and talking with one another at a park when a very pretty young lady jogged by them. They are trying to be men of integrity, so they both quickly lowered their gaze to contemplate the paved asphalt path below them.

“Hey!” said one of them. “I never noticed that this asphalt has little white stones in it.”

“Me neither!” responded the other guy.

Distractions can be a bad thing, if they are keeping us from doing good things. However, distractions have their good side, too. Sometimes we can distract ourselves from doing things, saying things, or thinking things that we will very soon regret.

Many distractions are external and, therefore, out of our control. But we can also choose to distract ourselves. This doesn’t have to be a big production. In fact, the simpler the better. Years ago, I heard a man who was facing down a terrible addiction say the following: In the early days of his recovery, when the addiction came knocking at the door, this man would start flipping through food recipes in order to distract himself. It worked for him!

We have a saying in twelve-step programs, “Move a muscle, change a thought.” It really is true.

And sometimes, just by noticing what is around us, we are distracted in a holy, healthy way. There are times when a few white stones on the pathway are enough to keep us on The Path. What are your white stones?

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