We don’t live in a “first things first” culture. We procrastinate.
Procrastination is using the pursuit of one thing to justify our neglect of another. It’s distraction. It goes deeper than the “TV now, study later” life. Way deeper. Subconscious deep.
Have you ever heard a pastor or a priest say that meeting a good guy or girl won’t solve your problems? Or that your dream job won’t fill the void. Or that money won’t make you happy.
He’s right. Few think he isn’t. Very few consciously pursue those things to solve problems. I’d even say lots don’t pursue them for those reasons, even subconsciously. But some, I’d say, do subconsiously pursue them… for proof.
If I had a successful relationship…
If I got the job…
If I made X amount of money…
I’d have proof that there is no problem. That there is no void. That “I’m happy.”
But it doesn’t usually work like that. If you get what you pursue, you find you have it plus a problem. It plus a void.
We know what distracts us. We usually know it well. But do we know it’s a distraction? Do we know from what it distracts us?