Distractions

Good is the enemy of best.

When you woke up this morning, you had a choice: Invest yourself in the things that matter. Or, chase rabbits.

Rabbits are the distractions that vie for our time, attention, money, energy, and soul. Some people use email to further their purpose and reason for getting up in the morning. Most people use it to distract themselves from the banality of their job. Some people use Twitter to build a brand, communicate quickly and concisely with their audience, or drive people to their website. Most use it to distract themselves from the task at hand, whatever it may be.

Sometimes, chasing people down who've left your company, church, or team is a distraction. Or, chasing people down to try and change their mind or opinion is usually a distraction. When someone lobs a false accusation at you, defending yourself can be a distraction.

A good friend of mine was asked by the mayor of his small town to serve on his community's school board. Taking his responsibility seriously, my friend proposed instituting higher accountability for the teachers in that system. In an effort to derail that direction, defenders of the status quo hurled accusations of racism at him. He listened to their charges, dismissed them as a desperate attempt to distract from the task at hand--he did not even respond to the charges, they were so ludicrous--and moved forward the work to serve the students of that system.

The word distraction tells us what it is: dis ~ away from; tract ~ to draw/carry. To draw or carry away from.

What distractions are drawing or carrying you away from what you GET to do today, this week? Get past them and get on with it.

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