I was just flipping through the channels before going to workout. Robyn (my wife) has noticed there’s sometimes a lengthy gap between the time I announce I’m going to workout and when I actually do. I guess I’m in a gap now.

So one channel had the latest news from the Middle East and the conflict between Israel and the Palestinians in Gaza. I have to admit I really haven’t been following the news much lately. Not even the local news. And I’m finding I’m much less anxious than I used to be. I’m not worried about the economy, the stock market or whatever is going on thousands of miles from here.

I could probably Google it and find out for sure, but I’ll bet 90% of news stories are either bad or at best, neutral. Honestly, I really don’t need that. I’m tired of filling my mind with bad news I can’t do anything about, then walking around under a little black rain cloud of worry and doubt. By the way, I’m not suggesting that some news isn’t important or that you shouldn’t watch it. It’s just what I need to do.

Anyway, what struck me wasn’t so much the news about Israel, but the contrast between that story and what was on the next channel–an infomercial, a really cheesy one, for buying homes through some government program that very few people know about, of course. The woman doing the “interview” couldn’t have been any worse with her artificial shock at how wonderful all this was. She was as bad as the acting on the 1950’s radio drama I listened to this morning while un-decorating the church.

The bottom line: some things are important and some things are distractions. The more we can drop the distractions in our lives, the more we can focus on what matters most to us.

What’s distracting you from what matters most?

Okay, now I’m going to workout. Really.