When I share the message of living undistracted, I’m often asked which distraction is the most common in our lives today. What I’ve found is this: there are five big distractions that are common with many. So, naturally, I call them the Big Five, and I share them in Chapter 5 of my book Right Now Matters. Consequently, I didn’t come up with this list of five; those who took my online poll a year ago did. Almost each woman who responded struggled with these distractions. In this episode and in the next four, we’re addressing these five distractions, how they are plaguing us, and what we can do about them. Today we discuss the first one–the past–and how to live now when we’re feeling stuck in the past.
The past. It’s tricky, isn’t it?
Some of us would rather forget it all together. We don’t like visiting it often. It’s full of pain and mistakes and things we’d rather not remember or relive. Yet some of us would return there right now if we could. The past, or what some term “the good old days,” were much better than life today some say. Some also say life was simpler and more enjoyable back then.
I grieve things from my past, yet I’d love to live other former moments again and again because they were so meaningful. I’m guessing you’re similar to me in this way. The past was awful, yet it was wonderful.
As a result, this is where the distraction of the past enters the scene.
Many of us can get stuck in the past. Sadly, that prevents us from living in the moment and enjoying the right now. Being stuck in the past can also cause us to miss priceless moments happening right in front of us that we’ll never get to live or experience again.
Could you be stuck in the past?
Do you know? How can you find out?
Click the player above to listen to the full 14-minute episode.
The past is passed. It’s not where we are designed to live. God has good things in store for us today. Even if life may feel a little heavy in the moment, God is with us right now. That’s comforting, isn’t it? This distraction–the distraction of the past–doesn’t have to be one of our Big Five distractions. Instead, let’s let go of the past and put it into the very capable hands our our Creator. It’s not ours to carry or live in any more. Come back next week to learn about the second distraction of the Big 5–the future! God bless you!
Links in this episode:
- Ecclesiastes 7:10 NLT
- 2 Corinthians 10:5 NIV
- Isaiah 43:18-19 MSG
- Learn more about my books Right Now Matters and the Right Now Matters Bible Study
- Join the Right Now Matters Bible Study waitlist
- Access my free Resource Library, full of items to help you live in the moment and stay present
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