On Distractions

I visited my cousin yesterday.

We ended up in the backyard, smoking a joint and talking about progress—or more accurately, the lack of it.

It turned into one of those conversations where an elder starts sharing the hard-earned regrets they wish they could undo.

My uncle joined in. And what he shared stuck with me.

He said, “At 24, I was a licensed electrician. I had just bought a brand new house. I had a car. Everything was moving forward.”

And then came the line:

“The reason I lost it all—and never got it back—was because of a distraction.
My ex-wife. I chased her for years.”

They were toxic together. On and off for nearly two decades.
It wasn’t love. It was dysfunction wrapped in hope.
Every time they reunited, something in his life slipped backward.

A new opportunity? Missed.
A savings plan? Gone.
A business idea? Killed by chaos.
A healthy routine? Replaced with emotional drama.

And he knows it.
You could see the weight in his voice when he said it.
You could hear the years.

Let’s be clear:

Women aren’t distractions.
Men aren’t distractions.

But the wrong partner?
The wrong energy?
The wrong dynamic?

That can derail a whole life.

Your relationship is either a multiplier or a parasite.
It either pushes you up or pulls you back.

The wrong person doesn't just waste your time.
They waste your potential.
They cloud your mind.
They drain your spirit.
They delay the life you could’ve built.

So be ruthless about who you let close.

Love should not feel like chaos.
It should not feel like sabotage.
It should not feel like running in place.

You don’t need perfect.
But you do need aligned.

Choose a partner that makes you more of who you want to be—
Not someone you have to shrink, hide, or recover from.

Stay distraction-free.
The right future needs the right environment.