I have recently, well subconsciously, always been aware of just how powerful distraction is for me; in terms of having negative thoughts and/or feelings, or worrying about things which haven’t happened yet.
It’s easy for people to tell you to just focus on the ‘present’ or ‘just don’t think about it’, but for me, that’s like saying, “Don’t think about a white Polar Bear’ – that’s literally the first thing that will come to mind…
That is of course unless we fill our minds and our thoughts with other things.
In Philippians 4, Paul tells us to think about things which are, ‘lovely, wonderful, etc’. To me this is him saying to us, “Distract yourself from worries and negativity with other things.”
If you remove something from a box, that box is now empty. There becomes too much room to either: focus on what was in the box, (therefore reinforcing those negative thoughts), or to create new worries. Actively putting new things into that box, that is, making a conscious effort to think of good things – things you don’t have to worry about, that won’t upset you, and appreciating those things through focus, really helps to get rid of those anxious feelings. It takes awhile as those thoughts have a habit of creeping back up but although at first it takes a conscious effort, once that positive train of thought starts it should last for a while.
I’m really trying to appreciate things in the moment, that’s probably why I like to take so many pictures and videos. I’m a visual person so they help me to reflect back on good, positive times and they also serve as visual aids for distraction, where my memory may need a trigger.
TheReadyWriter 