Distractions.

Distractions. They have a way of creeping into our lives. Sometimes we don't even notice them until after they have come and gone. Distractions are tricky things... you see, they all have this way of seeming really important at the time....It's only afterwards that you realize the amount of time you wasted. In my life, my smartphone is a large distraction to me. Not only do I use it for texting and calling, but I have social media apps such as Twitter, Facebook and Instagram. I have one or two games, Snapchat, my email, the internet, YouTube, and Spotify. These can all be useful apps, but in my life, they're more of a distraction than anything else. How many times have I sat there looking at my phone screen instead of talking to someone else in the room? That's an opportunity wasted! How many times have I scrolled through my newsfeed on Facebook instead of reading a book or doing something that actually holds value? Another opportunity wasted! These things aren't bad in themselves, it's when we let them take over our time that they become a poor choice. Facebook and Twitter wouldn't be such large time wasters for me if I didn't have them on my phone. 

So here's the plan....I'm deleting them. I'm getting rid of everything on my phone that distracts me. My phone will basically consist of iMessage, the calculator, and flashlight. I'm just so sick of wasting my time! God gave me this life so that I can LIVE it not WASTE it! I don't want to look back at my life and wonder what I could have done differently. I want to enjoy it now and take every opportunity God gives me, to live my life to the fullest in the place where I'm at. I wish I could say that my phone wasn't a problem for me, but honestly, it is. And there are obviously a lot more things I can be doing in order to accomplish this goal of minimal distractions, but my first plan of action is against my smartphone. I'm excited to start this challenge and begin accomplishing tasks that I would've been distracted from otherwise. So here are my goals. The short list of things I want to do over the summer, without my smartphone there to distract me.

1. Read more books!

I. Love. Reading. I absolutely adore it. This summer, I would LOVE to tackle my reading list. So instead of going online to Facebook, Twitter, or my personal favorite: Reddit, I'm going to dedicate more time to exploring books.

2. Get to know a new person EACH day!

So this might sound like a ridiculous goal, but I'm really looking forward to this one. I love meeting new people! I'm working as a tour guide this summer, so I meet at least 5-10 new tourists each day. However, meeting them and getting to know them are two different stories. I'm going to actually take the time to get to know them beyond just their names and where they're from. A lot of pretty amazing people come through my tours, and it's about time I take advantage of that and let them impact my life in any positive way they can.

But now here's my challenge to you. Figure out what's distracting you! Is it your laptop? Is it a game? Is it the TV? Or maybe you're like me, and your distractions come from your phone. After you figure out what's distracting you, it's time to make the decision......do you want to continue letting that object distract you? or are you going to do something about it? If you would rather keep things the way they are, that is 100% fine. I just know that in my life, I will benefit greatly from removing all the distractions I can. The choice is absolutely up to you! I know that I'm not going to regret this, and I hope you won't either :)