About this ebook
AND…
A BONUS
Falling Into Place, a heartwarming novella to help you distract
Is your life way too hectic? Are you concerned about people or events in your orbit? Welcome to the 21st century -- especially in the time of COVID-19. Sometimes you just can't turn off your swirling thoughts.
That's the time to practice the Art of Deliberate Distraction.
Deliberate distraction is recognizing something you cannot control or fix and consciously taking positive action to divert your thinking to something more positive. It doesn't mean you avoid problems or duck responsibility. It means you know when to channel your thoughts or actions to areas where you can do something, or to time to simply chill.
Deliberate distraction won’t eliminate problems and it is not permission to ignore things you could do something about. Deliberate distraction is not medical advice or counseling, simply thoughts of a reformed worrier. Or partially reformed. I think worry may be an innate trait we need to learn to manage.
Deliberate distraction offers a way to consciously refocus your thinking – if only for a few minutes at a time – so you can feel more even keel as you handle life. This book will explain the concepts further and offer suggestions for putting them into practice. Take a look at the topics in this short piece.
THE ART OF DELIBERATE DISTRACTION
How to Start
Try to Get Folks in Your Orbit on Your Team
THE CRAFT OF OVERCOMING WORRY
Criteria for Taking Action
What About the Really Big Stuff?
Final Thoughts on Worrying
GET BACK TO DELIBERATE DISTRACTION
What’s Next for You?
RESOURCES AND LINKS
FALLING INTO PLACE – a novella
About the author
Elaine L. Orr writes four cozy mystery series: the Jolie Gentil series at the Jersey shore, the River’s Edge series along Iowa’s Des Moines River, the Family History Mysteries (set in Western Maryland). and the Logland series, which features a small-town Illinois police chief – with a cozy feel. Behind the Walls was a 2014 Chanticleer Mystery and Mayhem Award finalist, and Demise of a Devious Neighbor a 2017 finalist. Elaine also writes what she calls reflective fiction, including novellas Falling Into Place and In the Shadow of Light.
The Art of Deliberate Distration is a project that germinated for a long time. It's out of Elaine's usual writing baliwick, but she thought the time had come to share the ideas in the short piece.
Elaine conducts workshops and does online classes. She is a member of Sisters in Crime and the Indiana Writer’s Center.
