Nothing Else Matters

I am extremely, extremely grateful for the healing I received last night through writing.  It was like therapy in action.  When I sat down, I felt distressed.  When I got up, I felt relieved.  But I felt something else when I sat down.  I felt determined to write.  I didn’t care if it was good or bad.  I didn’t care about anything but writing.  Nothing else mattered.  That, I think is one of the keys to moving forward – to make nothing else matter. 

There is no end to distractions.  The media is full of stories about injustices, large and small, very few that I can do anything about.  I can pray about them, but usually that’s it.  For example, there’s the story of the referee who was fined for wearing a pink ribbon in support of breast cancer.  Or the woman who was given a ticket for driving too slow.  Or the latest political story.  Or the hateful comments about Barrack Obama.  Or stories about some celebrity’s current mishaps and bad deeds.  Some of these things I ignore.  Others I have allowed to upset me. 

Then there are things that get my mind diverted.  I get irritable when I see a policeman giving someone a ticket, because my belief is that they are only doing so to make money not prevent crime.  I don’t like people who enforce rules simply to exert power, not to help or protect anyone.  I don’t like people who are rules-bound and rigid.  I don’t care for most religions because I feel they are only used to keep people in line.  These things don’t just annoy me; they can enrage me.  And to what purpose?

There’s no Purpose here.

All of these things are just distractions.  That’s all they are.  They are meant to keep me from my work.   In my Morning Write, I realized there are only four things I want:

·      Time

·      Money

·      My Muse

·      My house on the beach. 

I want time so I can study.  I want money so I can have more time. I want my Muse so I can keep writing and doing whatever else God has called me to do.  I want my house on the beach so I have a place to rest and work from. 

That’s it.  Everything else is just a distraction.  Anything that doesn’t move me toward one of these four goals is unnecessary and even a hindrance.  This is why it is so important to manage my thought life.  Wasting precious time brooding over past injustices only keeps me from reaching my goals.  God has called me to move forward.  If I can address the injustices through prayer or another form of action, then good.  If not, then I need to drop it because they keep me from a life of love, joy, generosity and productivity.

A good question to ask whenever a thought comes up or whenever I’m tempted to become irritable is, “Will this help me reach my goals?”

If not, then I need to let it go.

Is this easy?  Probably not, but if I keep my goals in front of me, it will probably be much easier.

Of my four desires, the first, time, is the most limited.  That’s another reason I can’t waste it on useless thoughts.  Time is too precious.  So is my mind.  Therefore, I need to Get Started and Keep Going because nothing else matters.