When you turn away from something or someone that brings you so much peace, you immediately start noticing the difference. It’s like the energy around you shifts and your demeanor feels a little more withdrawn and on edge. There are distractions throughout the day that may substitute the loss for a little while, but the longer you stay away, the harder it becomes to act as if it’s not affecting you.

This is usually how I feel when I’ve been so distracted with life that I’ve made no time to spend with God. My relationship with Him is so important… but sometimes not important enough. I become consumed by my everyday life or what I’m living in that present moment, I just think to myself that tomorrow will be the day I get back on track. Only tomorrow comes after a shameful amount of time has already passed. Unfortunately, that’s time I’ll never get back.

Set peace of mind as your highest goal, and organize your life around it.

Brian Tracy

This past December, I finally got baptized alongside my brother in Colombia which was a dream of ours since we were young kids. We wanted our uncle who’s a pastor to do the honor and the opportunity had presented itself perfectly. The sad truth of reality is that one event can’t change who you are. It can make a huge impact but what we forget is that we’re creatures of habit. If we don’t do something consistently without ever breaking our stride, we’ll allow the impact to make some sort of difference in our lives but then fall back to what we’ve always known.

After I got baptized and returned home from our trip, I began a new job where I experienced my first emotional breakdown (due to many reasons). Guess who made it last on my life of priorities when He should’ve been first. I knew what would happen when I turned away from what brought me peace not only everyday, but especially in the moments I need it most. Not only did I put Him last, I also put myself last too.

My daily routine that I had fallen in love with was nonexistent because of the crazy hours I worked. My routine was another thing that brought me genuine happiness and accomplishment but as soon as I stopped doing it all together, I felt the complete opposite. The fact that I’m writing this blog post today should be telling of where I’m at now and what my state of mind is like. I’m back to my (somewhat) normal routine and God, how I’ve missed it.

We can force our circumstances to adapt to our lives too

I’m learning, I’m growing but sometimes I get frustrated with myself that I allow so much time to pass before I get back to doing what truly fulfills me on a day to day basis. We have to learn how to adapt to our circumstances but hell, we can force our circumstances to adapt to our lives too.

There will always be distractions and pitstops and inconveniences that will steal your attention away from what and those you love. Don’t just hand it over to them. Don’t prioritize them over the peace the others give you. That’s a gift that nothing and no one should ever have the power to take away from you.