I threw a tissue in the garbage can from across the room. I missed. Biscuit, who happens to have a taste for dirty tissues, watched the failed attempt and stared at the tissue in its resting spot right next to the trash can.
“Biscuit, don’t eat that,” I said. So he laid down, right where he was five or so feet away, put his head down on the floor between his paws, and stared at it longingly. But he didn’t move closer.
Until a few minutes went by and he decided to “get more comfortable” by spinning around three times and laying back down. I’m confident this was a ploy from the beginning, as he ended up laying back down only about three or so feet from the tissue. Again, he put his head down and stared longingly, unaware that I was keeping a keen eye on him.
Finally, unable to withstand the temptation any longer, he just stood up and started walking unashamedly toward the tissue. There was no sneaking, no ploy. He was just blatantly succumbing to his urge to eat the tissue. Until he heard me say, “Biscuit…”
He stopped dead in his tracks, turned around, and walked all the way to the other side of the room, where he laid facing away from the tissue. And from then on until I got up and actually put the tissue away, he forgot all about it.
You see, when temptation lingers around us, the worst thing we can do is focus on it and see how close we can get without actually falling for it. Like Biscuit, we’ll eventually realize we just really want that dirty tissue. But if we can flee it, listen to the correcting voice of our Master, get as far away as we can, and turn the other way, we’ll soon forget all about the temptation.
When I did throw out the tissue, I saw Biscuit looking at it with a look of recognition. Like, “Oh yeah! I wanted that tissue!” Indeed, he’d forgotten it, and now the temptation would be forever removed. When someday you’re reminded of a temptation you’d forgotten was even there, and you realize it’s no longer tempting you—you know you’ve fled well.
What helps you refocus when temptation is in your face?
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