Monday, February 13, 2012

I Have an Enemy

I have an enemy. It’s name is Distraction.

This year I have many goals for myself. My biggest goal is having three years of college done by the time I would graduate highschool, which would require passing the accuplacer test with high enough marks to place into pre-Calc at Anoka Ramsey Community College as well as taking more CLEP tests for credit this year. I’d also like to be more scheduled in my blogging, make Varsity next year in at least one of my three sports, and get my drivers license.

This morning, I woke up with a plan for my day. I was going to get up, start my schoolwork and finish it in time for my Ski Meet. I watched my math lesson, sat down on my bed, opened my math book… and promptly grabbed my phone to read my text messages. I knew this wasn’t a good idea. It’s wrong, and it’s against my mother’s rules, and it’s a roadblock to accomplishing what I set out to accomplish. And yet this is a mistake I tend to make over and over again.

I asked a friend who is older and wiser than I am about how he manages to reach his goals without giving in to distraction and he gave me the following advice: Forget about boys, make growing in your relationship with God your first priority and submit to your parents authority because there is a reason God put them in authority over you—you’re not grown yet and you’re bound to screw up.

After that reassuring note, I decided to use his advice to analyze my choices today (right after my mom caught me texting and took my phone away for the day), and came up with a few interesting notes.

·         My major problem is starting any work that requires sustained focus. I will go as far as doing the dishes and cleaning the bathroom to avoid my one hour of math homework. This is a constant struggle for me because I have not put the effort into training myself to focus for an extended period of time. I’ve ignored my parents advice to write in my planner, and bring my school out to our living area instead of my bedroom, where I tend to be more distracted.

·         I am a follower, not a leader. My parents always said since I was a little girl, I’d jump off a bridge if my friends told me to. Since I know this about me, I should be surrounding myself with friends who have common goals in order to keep me on track. That doesn’t mean I can’t have fun, but there is a time and a place to goof off, and it isn’t right now.

·         Boys aren’t a problem, because I have made a commitment to myself and to my parents that I will not date until I’m 18.

·         I always feel like I could be stronger in my faith. I know right now I’m really lucky because I have parents who can lead me in that area of my life, and friends who are seeking Him too.

Seeing as though the one area that is not a problem is the boy dealio, and that submitting to my parents authority on the issue of dating is more than likely the reason for this, I can only come to one conclusion:

I need to submit to my parents authority in other areas of my life. Yes, my parent’s have high expectations of me, but they aren’t unrealistic. And I like that they believe in me. I like that they require me to be the best version of myself. I believe them when they say that I will look back on my teen years and be grateful that I pushed myself to succeed.

I plan on beating my enemy with my most powerful weapon available to me: Loving parents with high expectations, and faith that God put me in their care for my own good.

Ephesians 6:1-3    Children obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right, “Honor your father and mother.”- which is the first commandment with a promise-“that it may go well with you and that you may enjoy long life on the earth.”

1 comment:

  1. If you asked your mom, I'll bet she struggles with sustaining attention sometimes, too. :)

    And I'll always be grateful I submitted to my parent's authority when I was young. Their wisdom saved me from many unhappy consequences.

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