Here’s this week’s installment of Five Minute Friday. You might remember the task is to write for five minutes on a specific prompt word. And, of course, we meet and greet online at  the Community section at fiveminutefriday.com to share and network. It’s fun, fun, fun.

Before I start, I’ve been sharing reasons from our writing corps about the value of the exercise. They were taken from Five Minute Friday: A Collection of Stories Written in Five Minutes Flat, compiled by Susan Shipe. This week, don’t listen to me, listen to Chris.

“FMF has been a blessing to me in many ways. Even before I was a blogger, when I wrote in tired marble notebooks and occasionally was blessed to have an article published here or there in a print mag or an e-zine, I loved clicking over to Gypsy Mama … When I began my blog in 2012, I remember feeling SO happy and so excited to join this writing tribe. The community of writers is supportive, open-minded and caring. They’re an online writing support group!”

With that, the word for the week is DISTRACTION. The timer is set for five, so here goes. {clock starts now}

This morning when I took the dog out, she dutifully quickly squatted until a bird flew perilously close to her interrupting her task. Distraction. Added about five minutes to the walk since she apparently forgot why she was out there.

You’re right in the middle of writing when the phone rings. Distraction. When you get back to the task at hand, you have to rethink where you were and where you were going.

Even while penning this post, the pup decided it was a good time to cuddle. Distraction. Ever try typing with a dog {or cat} vying for your attention with body wrapped around your arms and giving face kisses?

You’re spending me time with the Lord when there is a knock on the door or a ruckus outside. Distraction. Satan-inspired distraction, plain and simple.

There are good distractions. That … STOP

… call might have been important. There are annoying distractions. Was that bird really necessary? There are bad distractions. Breaking the train of thought or conversation or attention. And then there are just distractions.

Distractions seem to be a very real part of life. Get used to it.

THOUGHT TO REMEMBER: A gem cannot be polished without friction, nor a man perfected without trials. — Chinese Proverb