Episode Nine: Don't Get Distracted

Distractions are the number one joy killer, mission robber, purpose stealer we can encounter. I also believe it is one of the Enemy’s greatest tools. We can grow so busy doing unnecessary tasks, busy tasks, even tasks that seemingly seem good that we MISS our greater purpose, that unique gift that God has given you to give to the world. Let's dive in and learn how we can live on purpose, with less distractions to be the difference makers we were created to be. 

Episode Transcript

Unknown (00:16):
Welcome to and then it's a podcast where we look at
what comes after the struggle, atough season, or even just a
setback. My name is SusieChafin. And I'm absolutely
passionate about helping peopletransform from struggle, and
surviving, to absolutelythriving.
If you are anything like me inthe beginning of the year, I

(00:40):
take inventory. Do you do that?
I look back. And I think, youknow, what? Am I really proud of
what what did I do well, thislast year, and then I look at
what did I miss the mark on?
What do I want to change? It's areset of sorts, I wouldn't
really call it a resolution. Butit's a time to determine, you

(01:01):
know, what am I on track for?
What do I want to leave as mylegacy in this world.
And what I found is the numberone detriment to achieving the
things that I feel like I'msupposed to do, or God put me on
this planet to do, ordistractions. And so it's we're

(01:23):
going to talk about today.
distractions, in my opinion, arethe number one Joy killer,
Mission robber, purpose stealerwe can encounter.
I also believe it's one of theenemy's greatest tools, he
doesn't really have to work thathard to throw big sin or

(01:43):
temptation in our way, when wecan grow so busy doing
unnecessary tasks, busy tasks,even tasks that seems seemingly
good that we miss our greaterpurpose, that unique gift that
God has given you to give to theworld.

(02:04):
I want to share a story to kindof illustrate the power of
distraction. One time when ourkids were very small, the twins
were nine months old, we had analmost six year old and a four
year old and we thought it wouldbe really great to drive to
Colorado Springs. We loaded upour suburban and the entire

(02:29):
drive, the 12 hour drive fromDallas to Colorado Springs. The
twins cried and cried and cried.
Sometimes simultaneously,sometimes individually. But
there was not even a probably a30 minute period and that whole
12 hour track or somebody wasn'tscreaming and it was exhausting.

(02:53):
And we made the very wisedecision to when we made the
return trip that like we arenever living that ever, ever
again. So we were like we'regoing to change up the strategy.
And we're going to drive throughthe night my husband and I were

(03:13):
going to take turns that way allof the kiddos could be sleeping,
and we could have a peacefuldrive home.
Well, the strategy worked great.
And it came time for my my turnto be driving and it was the it
was before you had Google Mapsor Apple Maps or navigation on
your car. I got all you had wasyour printed out Mapquest

(03:38):
directions. I know that makes mea dinosaur, but that's what we
had. And as we were approachingAmarillo, there was one
particular area that I needed tobe very aware of as to where to
stay on the road and exit andnot turn

(03:59):
or something like that. And myhusband grilled me on it. Okay,
when we get here, you have to dothis and this and this and this
and I'm like, okay, got it. It'slike no, do you understand,
like, you can't do this or this.
I can't remember what it was.
And you know, because I'mgetting annoyed now because I'm
like, I got it man. Like, I'mnot an idiot. I know how to

(04:19):
drive. Like I can do this. So hetrusts me to that. And we get
through Amarillo. I do what I'msupposed to do. And I keep
driving.
About two hours later, myhusband wakes up and he's
watching the signs go by, youknow, one after the other show.

(04:40):
And he's like, Suze, where arewe? And I'm like we're on the
Whatever road we were supposedto be on. And I set it very
convincingly. I was convinced wewere on the right road.
And my husband's like, lookshe's like No, no, that's not
where we are, we have to stop,we have to turn around, we're in

(05:03):
the wrong place.
And, much to my dismay, we werein the wrong place. Somehow, I
had gotten distracted, I haddone something that I thought
was right. But we werecompletely lost. And I didn't
even know it. And that mistakecost us not only the two hours

(05:28):
going in one direction, butanother two hours just to get
back to Amarillo to go to getback in the right spot, a four
hour waste of blissful sleep.
And it's a it's a story just toillustrate that when you get

(05:48):
distracted,there's a cost. And when you get
distracted, you don't evenalways know it, you feel like
I'm in the right place. I'mdoing what I'm supposed to be
doing. This is good. I'm on theright track.
And so today, I want to reallydive into this because you could
be distracted right now, youcould be on the wrong track. And

(06:12):
there could be a really greatcost that's more than just a
four hour loss of blissfulsleeping children. It could be,
it could be so much more, itcould be the mark that you were
supposed to make on this world.
So I want to dig into first,what are the ways that we can
become distracted?

(06:34):
We have become so good atnumbing our minds. Let's think
about some of the ways we dothat. binge watching Netflix, or
Amazon Prime, or Disney plus, orHulu or whatever it is that you
subscribe to. We can we can getsucked into it for days,

(06:56):
weekends, a whole weekend can begone from watching a TV series.
Or how about when we wake up inthe morning and we reach over to
our phone and the day startswith Reddit, tick tock
Instagram, Facebook, whatever.
And it continues that waythroughout the day whenever we
have a free moment. Lunch Breaktime in the carpool line that we

(07:18):
go to what is nine, Monday nightmind numbing. And we looked at
those forms of distraction.
Video games I know for kids inmy children's generation that
these 20 year olds, theseteenagers, video games are huge,
and they take such such blocksof time.

(07:42):
But if you're an oldie like me,it can even be things like
Wordle I admit it. I loveWordle.
And in the moment, it's likeyeah, everybody just needs some
downtime, you just need sometime to not think which is true.
We do need to reset.

(08:02):
But when the downtime turns intohours, weeks, months in a given
year, what has been the cost?
What else could have beenlearned? Done? Loved, given,

(08:23):
shared,instead of just been mindlessly
consumed?
Of course, there's otherdistractions to
fear. Yeah. Well, what if I,what if I do actually do what
God has really written on myheart that I feel like I'm
supposed to do and I try it, andI fail?

(08:47):
Well, guess what, you probablyaren't going to fail. That's
totally normal. And you'reprobably going to succeed some
failure just means you learnedsomething, it just means you're
putting yourself out there.
failures, not to be fearedfailures, just part of the
growth.
To comfortable, who sometimes weare just so comfortable exactly

(09:07):
where we are. And I could tellyou in this past year and 2022,
that was something I reallywrestled with. I found myself in
a role professionally. That wasnot utilizing my gifts, even
though it was comfortable. And Icould do it.

(09:28):
It was not something I was madeto do. And I found myself
saying, I justGod put me on the earth to do
forth in this. This I haveimportant work to do. And even
though I was making a niceincome, even though it was

(09:49):
work that I could do,it wasn't what I needed to do.
And I had to quit. It's a littlescary. Is very liberating.
And now it's given me the timeand energy and excitement to
really pursue the things that Ido believe God has put

(10:09):
is written in my heart for me todo. And to accomplish
presentments all band that canbe a big distraction. It's
really easy to sit in that mirypit of resentment. Sometimes we
love just kind of rollingaround. And that resentment and

(10:31):
rage that we don't want to getout, it's too too comfortable.
Maybe it's resenting thatsomething that was stolen from
you in childhood or somethingthat was really wrong to you.
And it's never quite healed. Andyou just can't seem to move

(10:52):
forward.
Or maybe a relationship thatended that you didn't want it to
end. You're just kind of stuckthere, unable to move on.
Or unforgiveness for somethingthat was done to you, that
wounded you and wronged youdeeply. And instead of being
able to move forward withhealing, you remain stuck in a

(11:17):
pattern of victimhood.
And I'm not saying woundsshouldn't be recognized. tended
to cared for, counseled,nurtured, healed.
But God does not want you tostay in that miry pit. He wants
you to come out and have avictorious life. One that's full

(11:40):
of hope, and meaning and lastinglegacy.
Busyness, that can be a realdistraction, right? We get so
involved in so many worthy,great things that we have no
margin for what's reallyimportant. And I can definitely

(12:01):
attest to have being a busynessperson, the person who said yes
to being on the silent auctionfundraising committee, driving
countless carpools, boosterclubs PTAs, serving on the
boards.
It feels great, like, wow, I'mdoing things that are important.

(12:22):
They're all good things. But dowe really need to be in all of
them?
Do we have to say yes toeverything?
Do we have margin left in lifefor the things that could be
even more important?
Or what about the life that wethe lie that we tell ourselves?

(12:45):
That happiness will come whenfill in the blank? I don't know
about you. But here's few of theones that I've been guilty of
telling myself. Oh, you know,when when the baby's sleep
through the night? Oh, yes,that's, that's when things will

(13:05):
be better. When we have a littleextra in the bank account,
when we can finally take thatnice vacation. When we can have
date night, wouldn't it be greatjust to have three hours of
adult conversation.
When we can't get a biggerhouse, oh, just more room, we
just need more room to spreadout. And when we get the kids

(13:29):
out of college, when we get thatwhen you are when I get that
promotion, oh, then everythingwill be better. It'll be just
Just what we wanted. When When,when, when when Joy robbers,
those are Joy robbers. Thosethings may or may not happen.

(13:50):
But living thinking that any oneof those things is going to be
what fulfills you or brings youhappiness or makes the
difference, then you are robbingyourself of the absolute
wonderful blessing you are intoday.
You know what if you do get thatbigger house, you get the bigger
house and then all of a sudden,you could feel in bondage to it.

(14:11):
The taxes, the maintenance, thecleaning, the sheer keeping up
of the house, something that wassupposed to be a blessing is now
feels like a curse. Or you getthe promotion. And it comes with
debilitating stress and travel.
And while you may still be withyour family and may be present

(14:31):
with them, you're not presentbecause you're thinking and
stressed out about work.
Eliminate the win, eliminate theWin win when we do this when
this happens when that happens.
Look for the now. Where am Inow? Look for the amazing,
wonderful things you have now.

(14:56):
The last distraction to be awareof is the one of good
intentions.
It's, and it's a dangerous one.
Because we actually believe thatwe are going to do whatever it
is that we intend to do.
You know what, tomorrow offtomorrow, I'm going to start
writing that book.
Tomorrow, I'm gonna wake up inthe morning, I'm going to start

(15:16):
exercising. Yeah, I've alwayswanted to serve in prison
ministries, I'm gonna look intothat tomorrow.
And we trick ourselves intothinking that because we want
to, and because we believe thatwe will tomorrow, we actually
believe that we will,that tomorrow comes. And most
times, very often. And again, weget distracted with the with the

(15:42):
social media, scrolling, theNetflix, the whatever, we pin it
again for the future. We don'tmake the call to the loved one.
We don't begin the book. Wedon't begin the ministry, we
don't begin the podcast,whatever it is, because you know
what we have tomorrow.

(16:06):
There is a cost. Remember, Italked about the drive that that
we lost four hours of a blissfulcar full of sleeping kids, that
was a real cost?
What is the cost of beingdistracted right now costing
you?
What dreams? Have you given upon?

(16:27):
What relationships are no longerfunctioning?
What are the passions? That youknow God put in your heart? He
knows you know, that he put thisdream, this desire this love of
something in your heart, and youhave not yet actualized on it?
What is it that you want? Do youwant to write a book? Do you

(16:51):
want to volunteer? Do you wantto spend time with your parents?
What is the great passion thatGod has grafted on your heart,
that you have the unique abilityand desire and passion to give.
So as we wrap up, I want tochallenge you limit your screen

(17:12):
time howdevice down policy should come
through the door, like maybe youhave a box, throw it in there.
Maybe you only look at it somany hours a day, maybe you
decide I'm only going to look atemail. So this time or at this
time per day,audit yourself weekly, daily.
How are you doing? Are yougetting, you know, kind of

(17:33):
suckered back into thedistraction world? Are you
finding that you're being moreintentional?
The last thing I would say isbring others in
business coaching, performancecoaching of therapy, friends,

(17:54):
colleagues, bring these peopleinto your life who can help you
be more on purpose?
Now, don't go to the people whoare more distracted Did you
don't go to the people whoplayed more video games than you
or who watch more Netflix thanyou that will do nothing except

(18:16):
make you feel like you're not asdistracted as they are. You need
to be around people who areliving on purpose and creating
the life they want. And helpingyou be accountable to creating
the life you want. Share fromthem learn from them. What do
they do to stay on track andlive on purpose?

(18:40):
Enclosing Life is short. It isso short.
No one is promised tomorrow. Andyou have this one great life and
you have a legacy to live and togive. You have gifts to share.
You were created to do somethingunique and purposeful.

(19:03):
Don't get distracted.
If you found today's contenthelpful, it would mean the
absolute world for me. If youcould rate it and review it. Be
sure to subscribe, like andfollow to stay up to date with
the latest episodes. We'll seeyou next time.