Photo by Abyan Athif on Unsplash

Stolen Focus?

How to Steal Back Our Focus and Improve Life

Clifford Jones
7 min readAug 22, 2023

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As the patriarch of our family here in Arizona, I love hosting the growing Jones Clan of Scottsdale to be with my wife and me when we have dinner on many Sunday nights. We're a close-knit family who loves to be together, and I've noticed how hard it can be to compete for our children's attention.

One son, in particular, seems to suffer the most from the topic of this article; stolen focus. For example, when he's with us, he's constantly looking at his smartphone, which means he's not fully present with the rest of the family. I'm not judging him as much as I observe the price he pays when he's with us and not. He's among the billions of us who are less than intentional when protecting the power to focus on one thing.

When We Feel the Suck

I, too, feel the suck of social media, the internet, and Youtube. However, when I stopped drinking booze many years ago, I intentionally nuked the cable TV subscription and tuned out all commercial radio, news, sports, and anything with commercials. I became more prayerful and intentional about meditation, mindful walks, reading quality books, and eating healthy foods. As a result, my life has changed dramatically. I’m less anxious and more present than ever before. I experience serenity even when I witness most hell on…

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Clifford Jones

I write about the art of human transformation, transcending suffering, and overcoming challenges in the School of Life with unconditional love and forgiveness.