“What movies have you seen lately?” None. “What shows are you watching?” None. “What news are you following?” None. “What video games do you play?” None. “What kind of videos do you like?” Once a week, I watch a podcast, usually The Deep End with Lecrae, and I’m only on social media when I’m making a post.
So many companies are trying to claim a piece of your headspace. I’m not giving mine away anymore, not to them. The only things I let into my headspace are my God, loved ones, projects, and plans. That leaves me space to appreciate the world around me, to daydream and reflect, to feel deeply, and to discover new skills and ideas.
I turned off society. Do I miss any of it? I’m often tempted to distract myself from a difficult task or hard emotion, but I’m so glad I don’t give in anymore. When you deal with all the skeletons in your closet, all the monsters under your bed, and all the vampires at your door, you find that life is beautiful. When you push through a difficult task or emotion, you are rewarded with an opportunity to make that space beautiful. I don’t push anything aside anymore or sweep anything under the rug. My reward: peace and progress.
The difficulty I always have to push through is tiredness. I suffer from NRS (non-restorative sleep); no matter how long I sleep, I wake up almost as tired as when I went to bed. It’s still important to sleep so that the glymphatic system can clean the waste and toxins out of the brain, but there’s no reprieve from the fog and pressure of the tiredness. For you, the difficulty is probably something different (I sure hope you’re not going through this.), but the way to push through it is always the same:
- Recognize the challenge you’re facing.
- Accept how you’re thinking or feeling about the challenge. If it’s sad, allow yourself to feel sad, and try to express that sadness with compassion. If it’s frustrating, allow yourself to feel frustrated, and try to use it as a motivator to fix the problem.
- Analyze why you are thinking or feeling that way about the challenge. Why is it inciting those emotions? What does it reveal about you?
- Remember that the challenge does not define you or control you. It is simply what you are facing or experiencing in the moment.
Sometimes, we move through these steps easily, as one smooth motion; other times, we have to be slow and deliberate, especially with the deeper challenges. With practice, the process becomes more natural and consistent. If you work through the challenges instead of distracting yourself from them, you will come to life.
Do I miss any of the distractions? My only regret is that it took me this long to kill them all. I express how I feel about all this better in the poem “Goodbye to the World” >>
