Tasks
I was sitting on my couch yesterday evening watching, shamefully, another episode of Grey’s Anatomy (Season 13; Episode 3). As I selected the episode, I thought, “Man...what a waste of time.” I like to pride myself on “living intentionally” and trying to “be my best self”, and here I was, sitting on my ass on a Saturday night watching mindless television. Now don’t get me wrong, I think there is a time and a place for zonking out and watching a good ol’ soap opera (lets be real, folks, television “dramas'' on networks like ABC have been soap operas with slightly better production value since I can remember). But, what did bother me was the sum of it. Granted, it’s been since 2005, but if I watched 12 seasons on Grey’s Anatomy at an average of 45 minute episodes and call it 20 episode seasons that’s 180 hours. That’s days of Grey. And Dr. Grey is not my only mistress. I have spent countless hours of my life watching “Television Dramas Featuring a Strong Female Lead”. Thank you Netflix, for so carefully pinpointing my viewership and ensuring I never have to look too far for the next heroine to sait my primetime addiction.
Who cares though, right? I’m a functioning member of society. I work. I take care of my responsibilities. I walk the dog; I take out the trash; I empty the dishwasher. Many of us live in this world full of intangible and sometimes immeasurable accomplishments. We drop our kids off at school, we manage to eat breakfast for once, we call or email everyone back in a day, or we manage the elusive and ever moving task of unchecking all the little red flags in our email inbox. Much of the work done is thankless and sometimes it’s downright unsatisfying. We do these things, day in and day out, and then we come home and decompress.
What bothers me about this conundrum is not that there is anything wrong with my watching TV or decompressing, but that the busyness of my life and my constant ability to disconnect from reality though Facebook, Netflix, Instagram, text messages, etc prevents me from ever accomplishing the small things in life that make me feel amazing for have accomplished them.
After I embarked on this diatribe in my head, I hopped off the couch and frantically looked around my house for something I’d been genuinely intending to do. I walked into the garage snagged my tools and, voila, an hour later I had a bathroom shelf and a place to put the clutter that had been displeasing me on my countertop for months. I felt great. And all achieving that greatness required was stepping out of my routine for a moment to contemplate, to intend, and to execute.
Mindfulness and reflection can be powerful tools in shaping our behaviors and helping us to accomplish our goals. But, it’s important to note that they can also help shape our experience of the things we already do. It can be important to remind ourselves that we’re worthy of our own thanks and it’s ok to pat ourselves on the back once and awhile--to switch our mindset from “all I had time to do today was…” to “Look what I accomplished today!”. Sometimes, in our already busy lives, we have to take time to set our intentions and be grateful for ourselves, even if it’s just taking a minute before plopping down on the couch to acknowledge and feel satisfied with our accomplishments.