Ezekial 36:26

26 I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh.

I often times have a very hard time focusing on the present.  the tendency is to dream or fantasize about circumstances that do not exist.  This of course is not always a bad thing.  There are times when I must look to the future and imagine where I want to be or how a situation might play out in order to be prepared.  The thoughts I have trouble with are those that create unrealistic conditions, that effect decision making.

When I am faced with situations that create stress and tension my reaction is to drift into fantasy.  My strategy and training has been to eliminate the tendency to drift into sexual fantasy during those times.  While I have done well to accomplish that, I still find myself drifting into fantasy, that is not sexual in nature, but still presents unrealistic conditions.  This type of fantasy I feel is also not good.  While not explicitly sexual in nature, it can give rise to impure thoughts.  These thoughts can be filled with doubt about self, questioning relationships, pity on current situations, and worthlessness.  Certainly not a healthy line of thinking to entertain.

Fortunately I am more aware of my thoughts and how powerful an impact they can have on my decision making.  Once I identified the questionable line of thinking I deliberately  focused my attention on other things around me.  I basically told myself that I needed to concentrate on the present.  This can be hard to do when fantasy has been ingrained by years of practice.  the change in mindset at the time was followed by the idea that I should use it as my devotional for the day.  The change in focus was crucial to a more productive morning.