Distractions & Excuses

It's Monday again. I hit snooze. No work out. By the time I roll out of bed I have missed

One of my many distractions: puzzles!

the chance to learn Spanish and French like I had planned. On top of all that, I ran out of time to pray, yet again. Despite my list of New Year's Resolutions and my promise to myself that I would stick with them, I allowed myself to become distracted and find excuses for the things I want to do to be a better person.

It is so easy for me to find excuses to not do things. It took me a while to fall asleep last night, so I can set my alarm for later. I went to mass yesterday, so I don't need to go to the chapel today to pray. Oh, I have class tonight so I don't have time to practice piano for 30 minutes. Excuses, excuses, excuses.

On top of all the excuses, I find myself very easily distracted. Everything from a TV show, to going on dates, to just scrolling through the plethora of social media sites can distract me for hours and completely wreck any plans I had made for that day. Even if the top thing I had planned for the day was just to go to a chapel for a few minutes, I get started on other tasks or I hang out with people and I let that fall to the way side.

This time, I was fortunate enough to catch myself - not before I started to get distracted

Irrelevant but still cool photo

and make excuses, but earlier than I had ever caught myself before. It's the little things, right?! Where this was slightly unfortunate was that I did not do anything to redirect my actions until I had a very moving experience at a teaching mass on Saturday.

As part of RCIA, I was invited to attend a teaching mass given by Father Michael Joly, a legally blind priest from Virginia. The whole experience was incredibly moving because Father Michael's faith emanated so beautifully from his words and his mannerisms. It reminded me of the joy I felt when my faith came first in life and provided me with the reality check that I so desperately needed.

Take a minute to think about your daily activities. Are they balanced or are you devoting too much time to distractions and excuses? Are you lulled into complacency or focused on faith and growth experiences?

"No temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man. God is faithful, and he will not let you be tempted beyond your ability, but with the temptation he will also provide the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it." ~1 Corinthians 10:13

Pax,
Kay