We attend to quite a bit of life distractions during our day-to-day routine, that we subconsciously don’t realize how this affects our overall mental health.

I think for me, all the news we hear about politics, about the mistreatment of people, the blatant disrespect that has shown itself in full force, really does show how these issues can factor into what we feel and think. Being an African-American woman, I can’t help but be very concerned about how these issues affect me and I think it makes me more cognizant of how I choose to carry myself in different aspects of my life. My views about my abilities have been a bit distorted, the confidence in myself at times, I’ve questioned. It’s not necessarily just world issues, it’s also allowing past relationships, past issues to continue to make their way into my psyche and really distract me from who I truly am and what I ‘m capable of. I at times need that reminder that I am enough, I’ve earned this life that I have, my values and needs are important, and my faith is always a reminder for me that I need to take a step back and bring the focus to where it needs to be.

It can be difficult to not get tangled in the mix of what’s going on with x,y,z and attending to these things, only makes your perception of your current life a little bit skewed.  Maybe you attending to each notification about the next thing that happened all the way in D.C, the celebrity couple that just got engaged or broke up, the twitter meltdown from a celebrity, etc really does take you away from YOU. Maybe it’s just me but having these constant distractors and maybe going into more detail in following some of these stories, it really has made me think, are we ever programmed to stay within our own lane? Can we be so invested in all of these things going on that it makes us lose sight of our own wellness, our own self-care, our own quality of life? YES, YES, YES!!!From what I have seen, we allow too much of the outside chaos to factor into how we go about our day-to-day focus.  Now don’t get me wrong, there are some issues that really need some tending to, but I think I can save that for another post.

There is a tendency for our emotions to get off track at times, think it’s good to be aware of what is going on in the news, but I think it’s being able to decipher how much of your energy goes towards certain notifications in your life. Is it needed? Our thoughts, our feelings and behaviors are constantly working and its working from a place of where your energy is focused on.

Life distractors, whatever they are for you can play a part in all the good and not so good things that form in your head about YOU, so if need be, take a moment out of each day, where you don’t subscribe to any and everything going on around you. It can be a lifesaver too much needed clarity that you might need to restructure certain thoughts you create about self.