Disappearing is not isolation. Disappearing is about building a moat around the castle of your life and choosing what comes in and out.
In the first of the Lord of the Rings movies, Frodo has control of the ring, which can change the life of the person who controls it. He uses it several times to disappear from a threatening situation that wouldn’t have ended well for him.
A ring can come in handy in myth, but in reality, you have the same power — to disappear from those things that won’t end well or won’t help you reach your goals in life or be good for your mental or spiritual well-being.
What’s chasing you? What’s doggedly dogging you? What’s relentlessly standing in your way? What’s tirelessly frustrating you?
What do you need to disappear from? What do you wish you could disappear from? What do you know you must get away from?
Or — as in Frodo’s case — it won’t end well?
What — or who — do you need to ghost for the next three months?
First, let’s discuss the why. Why would you want or need to disappear from something? After all, taking on this adventure will upset the apple cart and disturb the status quo in your life. So, is it worth it?
The obvious reason is that this “thing” drags you down or has become a negative influence, but it also steals your time (Check out THIS.) and distracts you. If your enemy can’t destroy you, he will distract you.
He will steal your joy and peace and keep you from your destiny. Distractions are a cancer that breeds other distractions. Rich nuggets unearth themselves without distractions and often are right under your nose. Starve the distractions, and the noise dries up. Turn off the noise, and the fog clears. Take away the tyranny of the urgent, and peace settles in.
You don’t have to take my word for it. Try it for yourself. Even for a few minutes, an hour, or a day. Or, if you’re really bold and sick and tired of being sick and tired, try it for a month or even 90 days.
And remember: Ghosting or disappearing from something or someone is not isolating yourself. It’s about managing what comes in and out of your life. It’s about loving yourself.
Need to disappear? Here are some things to consider ghosting for a few months.
- Social media (Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, Twitter).
- Relationships? Friends?
- Take a vacation from the Negative Nellies and Debbie Downers.
- Could you tighten your circle of influence?
- Jesus had 12, but he had a tighter circle of 3 (Peter, James, John).
- Media (Fox News. CNN. Netflix binge-watching. Video games.)
- Procrastination. Flip the script and do whatever you’ve been putting off.
- Meetings. You probably don’t have to do every single meeting, do you? Choose wisely.
- Notifications. Turn them off or disable them.
- Saying Yes — yes, GHOST YES! Learn to say no. Make NO your default for your ghost period.
Create some space and some margin in your life. The more you ghost, the more margin you create. The more margin you create, the more sanity and direction settle into your life. Take a breath and fill your tank. You can ask yourself these questions:
- What will change if I ghost this for three months?
- What will happen if I don’t ghost this for three months?
- What is the worst that can happen? The best that can happen?
- If I keep saying YES to this, what am I saying NO to?
Yes, this is a challenge, but we all need to tackle it head-on. It’s not impossible, even though we lie to ourselves that the world can’t go on without us. Guess what? Everything will be right there waiting if you decide to go back. But if you will RETRAIN YOUR BRAIN, there may be things you never return to.
You can read this and say, “Well, that’s a good idea for Susie or Billy. They need to do this.” Or, you could take the bull by the horns and the challenge for yourself and change your life.
Change your mindset and change your life.
What will you ghost for 90 days?