Sorry I have been away work and school have been keeping me pretty busy. I wanted to catch up from where we left off. Last time I had issued a challenge to everyone who wanted to participate on #BePresentChallenge. Some of you reached out and said that in your own lives you were going to challenge yourself in different areas.

So, how did you do? Were you able to put away your phone and be present 100%? What did you struggle with? These are some questions I want you to think about. Be honest with yourself, and this is going to be where I am 100% honest with you. It was very hard for me to even do the challenge, let me walk you through my struggles with this challenge. I will admit I failed, and this is not anything that I am proud of. Remember when I told you my sister called me out, well did she ever in this challenge. She had my mom be my accountability partner, and let me tell you every time my mom was right there to call me out. At one point I even got upset and tried to deviate from my own personal challenge and got upset that she was pointing out my shortcomings. Why should I be upset? Didn’t I challenge myself to be intentional on being present?

The challenge was pretty straightforward for me, put my phone away and only way to use it was by someone calling me. Let me be honest, most of my friends don’t call, they text me. I lasted one day…..then on day two I tried to justify why I was on my phone, I will admit I didn’t have the right attitude when my mom just pointed out I was not following the guidelines that had been set. Why should I even be upset at my mom? She didn’t do anything but what I asked her to, help hold me accountable. Why did I respond in that manner? I took some time to think about my behavior and wanted to share with you what I am dealing with.

I struggle with wanting to be in the know all the time, who just posted on Instagram, Twitter, Facebook and I started thinking why is any of this relevant? The world won’t stop if I don’t know what others are doing. Have I allowed this behavior to slowly creep into my life and in some ways consume me? What do I gain from it? Moreover what am I losing out on, this was a hard reality to come to face with. I started to dig deep into my life and ask myself is my phone,social media becoming more of a distraction and I am merely wasting time that I can never get back. The answer is YES, not that I wanted it to be but I am being brutally honest and this is something that I know I have to work on in my own life.

What is taking up your time? Is it building you up? or is it like most people we are too caught up in things that will not matter tomorrow, but we continue to neglect those around us such as our families, children, and friends. I am not saying that no one should have a phone , or be on social media but do we really need to be on it all day long? This verse came to mind “You do not even know what will happen tomorrow. What is your life? You are a midst that appears for a little while and then vanishes.” James 4:14

This really hit home for me, tomorrow is not promised with my daughter and I don’t want my life to be consumed with distractions that don’t allow me to see what is the most important thing in my life. I need to be present to show God’s love to my daughter, to spend time with her so she knows I value her and love her. To make memories with her that she will remember, this is what I want to spend my time in. What distractions do you have in your life?

Is there something that you can give less time to? In the end I have allowed time to pass that I can never get back, but the great thing is I can CHANGE. Each day is a NEW day where I can give myself goals and make a plan to achieve them. Who is ready to start over and make the most of each day we are given? I know I am and it’s going to be process but one that will be well worth it. Let me leave you with one of my favorite quotes “You can learn a lot from your mistakes, when you aren’t busy denying them.” It’s OK to have areas in your life you need to work on, the main thing is to be able to admit it to yourself, and once you can do that then you can begin to change.