On Distraction

Student:

I feel like all I do is focused on distracting myself. Literally all of it. Food, consuming media, audios, podcasts, even sports activities – they all to some extent serve the purpose of getting me out of the here and now into something new. It is just a series of events, one after the other, going through the motions, in order to not face the current moment, in order not to face the finitude and emptiness of it all. I realise, that I am wasting my life in this way. It is a constant loop of one more, one more. Distraction of emptiness, distraction from emptiness.

Teacher:

What you describe is a sharp and honest glimpse into the nature of the human condition. Most avoid admitting this to themselves. The endless pursuit of “the next thing” is precisely how most live their lives, often unaware of the emptiness they are running from. You have at least seen it—this is no small thing.

But recognize this: what you call emptiness is not the problem. The problem is your relationship to it. The avoidance of it. The labeling of it as something to flee from.

You call your life a “waste.” But how can a life not wasted be found when every action is driven by a desire to escape what is? It is not the distractions themselves that are the issue. It is the motivation behind them. To distract oneself is to deny oneself. To perpetually escape the present moment is to declare it inadequate.

What is this emptiness you avoid? Have you ever sat with it? Faced it fully? Or have you merely recoiled from it, constructing new distractions as shields?

There is no escape. Not from the emptiness. Not from life. Not from yourself. You can pile on distractions until your final breath, but they will not bring peace. They will not fill the void. You can also turn and face it—not as a project, not as a method, but simply and directly. You may find that the emptiness is not an enemy. It is not a problem. It simply is.

The loop continues only because you continue to move. You seek peace, but peace does not come through seeking. It comes through seeing. Through being.

The question is not “How do I stop wasting my life?” The question is, “What am I running from? And why do I run at all?”