clearing distractions; living a focused life.

It is fall and with the change in season, time to reflect back. This blog has evolved over time as I have evolved. I have wanted to write more but my focus has been on so many other things that are more important. It's not that I don't have time.. I believe we have the time for whatever we want to do.. It is just picking those things that are most important and spending time on that. But this morning, I woke up early and had a desire to write!

I love to wake up in the morning! Especially early. This is recent for me as I've only enjoyed waking up early for about the past year. I don't do it every day, but when I do, it fills my soul. I have time to read, pray, think, and have quiet. I get my best ideas and inspiration in the early morning. Many times when I'm in a project, I will wake up (on my own-no alarm) around 3-4 am and I get the best ideas or solutions for that project. The world is so quiet at this time, so those ideas and inspiration can reach us or come to the surface easily because our mind is clear and there are no distractions. 

About distractions.. I feel like the things that we shouldn't be doing or spending time on, or eating, or buying, are all just distractions. All of it goes together. In living a more focused life, these are the areas I am working on:

1. Home - only having items I love and that serve me
2. Body - putting pure things in that will fuel me
3. Time - spending it on what matters most
4. Money - mastering it

I've moved through a progression in these 4 areas in the past year and a half and feel I've got a pretty good grasp on the first 2, of course there is maintainance and re-committment that happens along the way. Right now, the last 2 are where I am really focusing on making huge improvements. But they all go together. I think as humans, these are the 4 areas that we get messed up on and we use them improperly to "numb" or cover up existing problems or "fill a void". Our closets, garages, and shelves are filled with clutter that we have to continually organize, care for, dust, and move around. And we just keep buying more to make ourselves feel better which adds more distractions and chaos. And then we eat our emotions by putting things in our bodies that don't help us feel better long term and add clutter on our bodies and bad health, which makes us depressed, so we eat more junk and numb ourselves with Netflix and scrolling Facebook for hours. HOURS. What kind of use of time is that? How do we feel when we finally pull ourselves away from it? Uplifted? Fed? Motivated? The opposite. So we go shopping. "Retail therapy", right? And buy more stuff we don't need, and the cycle continues. 

Please know I'm not judging anyone, this is all coming from my own experience. The cool thing is, I get to decide what I want in my life and then do what it takes to live that way. It takes effort everyday. It takes filling myself with prayer, scripture study, good books, uplifting podcasts or conference talks. But as I replace habits with better ones, my path becomes more clear, and I can see that there are more distractions I can clear out of my life. It is a beautiful journey and I'm starting to understand what it means to live with purpose. I understand better WHY I am doing what I do. If you don't know WHY you do something, it is time to ask yourself and be honest. Having a strong "why" is a powerful way to make positive change your life.