Thursday, April 11, 2019

Being Proactive vs. Reactive

Pretty much anytime I listen to a new Brooke Snow podcast, it always seems to be what I have been thinking about lately and/or I just need to write down a blog post on my thoughts. The latest one on Increasing Agency was all about being proactive vs reactive. Like with my phone, am I proactive or reactive with it? How about when you're around your kids and they do something you don't like?

She says that once you allow you space in your brain, you are more likely to be proactive than reactive. It's just a small pause that can make the difference. 

Basically in this age with information overload, we are cluttered with tabs on our computer (guilty for sure) and so we are bouncing from one thing to the next. Or we are constantly stopped in our day from pings of notifications on our phone (again, guilty). 

I've really cut back on what my phone is used for but it's still almost always near me. I'm guilty of checking it just to see if somebody text or Marco Polo me. 

And podcasts are amazing and useful and taking online courses are so valuable but when I don't allow myself to break away from these things, no matter how 'good' they are, my brain will tell me it's too much. 

I've experienced this several times. It seems like all day I am plugged in somehow. Then by dinner time, I'm making dinner, listening to a coaching call, and trying to feed my baby and my eyes get all heavy and my brain feels like it's on the fritz. It's like it's yelling at me, 'turn it off! Take a nap! I need a break!'

Currently I'm reading Walking on Water by Madeleine L'Engle which is all about reflections on faith and art. It dawned on me that these were reflection essays so clearly there needed to be 'reflection time' during the day or night. She couldn't have been plugged in constantly. There is no way she could write such beautiful essays without deep contemplation. 

I had this realization that if I don't allow my brain to process and think deeply about all the good I'm receiving, then it's like it's in a cloud (not icloud mind you;) and I've just allowed it to take up space in my brain without making time to process it and take what I really need for myself. 

I think I'm going to try and unplug from 9PM to 9AM. And make sure in those hours, that I meditate, read scriptures, journal, and let my mind wander and think. 

Allowing my brain a pause is a small thing that I hope will reap great benefits.

What other things have you tried to unplug that have been helpful? 

2 comments:

  1. I love your deep thoughts, Julia. I need to listen to that podcast. I definitely need to do better about unplugging. I'm listening to so many things throughout the day. Even though, they are all good, I need to ponder more about the scriptures. I liked this quote from the April 2019 Ensign, from the article on "Three Lessons on Love, Joy, and Peace."
    By Brian K. Ashton

    "Satan tries to convince us to prioritize temporal things over spiritual things. We can tell if our priorities are out of place by noticing how often we say, “I’m just too busy or too tired right now to ________________.” Fill in the blank: attend the temple, minister, study and ponder the scriptures, fulfill my calling, or even say my prayers.

    One reason we feel so busy is that Satan works hard to distract us. He uses the smartphone in our hand, the radio in our car, the televisions in our home, and myriad other things to keep us distracted almost all the time. As a result, we feel busier than we actually are."

    Another result of this distraction is that we are pondering less and less. Satan works to distract us because he knows that pondering, especially the scriptures, leads to greater conversion and revelation.

    Another of Satan’s deceptions comes through the idea that our outward actions matter more than our inward motivations. When we lack the proper motivation for doing spiritual things, we fail to experience the joy of the gospel. As a result, keeping the commandments starts to feel like drudgery, and Satan knows that if he can get us to feel this way, we are likely to stop doing what we know we should be doing."

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    1. Wow, that is so good. Thanks for sharing, Mom!

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