Unplugged
It has been an interesting week since I chose to transform my relationship with TV. The first few days saw me craving and caving (i.e., wanting to watch and letting myself indulge). Many of the days I watched less TV than usual and several of the days had me binging for hours on end. What I found interesting was noticing how my day was crafted around TV.
Before joining here, I was basically aware that TV played an important part in my life, consumed many waking hours, and even prevented me from getting sufficient sleep. I would not just stay parked in front of the tele late into the evening, sometimes drifting off, and then taking myself to bed I would continue watching the show on my iphone. What I find fascinating and most powerful is that since choosing to quit the TV addiction and posting here, I am now keenly aware of just how much every waking moment was planned around giving me the excuse to watch TV.
Being part of this community and availing myself of the tools and posting here is, everyday, making it possible for me to affirmatively choose what I do with my attention and the actions I take. For example, yesterday I simply unplugged my TV. Willpower on its own is insufficient to have me transform my life. It may get the ball rolling, but every time I slide back into old behaviors I get on my case and think myself a worthless excuse for a man. So, I chose to create an environment that makes it easy for me to live my values and extremely difficult for me to feed my addiction.
After work yesterday, instead of settling into the coach for several hours of tele, I worked on a project (one I had been procrastinating about and beating myself up for not moving it ahead), advancing it significantly. Wow, that felt great. I then went to bed at a responsible hour, with a book and without my iphone, and had a lovely, restful sleep.
One day in a row living my life as my best self!
Thanks everyone for being here and making this a safe and productive space for me to embrace my life.
Hi again, Avidd3, so pleased to have you post again, this in truth helps me to keep on my path of a smoke free life. Yes we have some things in common such as wanting to improve our life, the only difference is for smokers we need to abstain from smoking altogether because of the drug Nicotine which keeps us hooked along with our habitual behaviour, so its a double whammy I feel so proud of those who come on here and are changing their thoughts and life for the better.
I had to work out a time table for myself. I only did this for an example as putting on my phone.....1 hour for housework 3 hours Art of any kind and 1 hour of computer. This is in order to accomplish domestics and an Art practice which has taken up most of my life. The rest takes care of itself. Now that I am retired this was necessary in order to give me some normality, which most of us have had to do during the lockdowns of Covid.
I eventually became more selective about watching TV (you might find out more about yourself than before) I now listen to radio for the news etc, this means it keeps me in the loop of a real world so to speak. Another alternative I have thought of is Audio Books, this would allow me to do other activities that don't require too much thinking, I will have to explore this some time.
You might consider working out how much actual time you participate in the real world and how much actual time you spend looking at the real world. Sometimes I need to get out of my way and watch the world pass by, that is in meditation; going out for lunch and a walk with my little dog when my life gets too busy.
Enjoy your new found freedom
I write myself every morning of what needs to be done, cleaning, extras, calls, etc.... I also have my other interests like puzzles, IcanQuit and my diet group. This month I decided to exercise more and put re-acquainting myself with the keyboard on the back burner. I exercise while watching tv and playing poker on line. I only watch a couple of programs, but that is my way to making the exercise more enjoyable. It is a good feeling to get things done in a timely fashion. I want to lose this weight quickly and move on! I spend too much time counting calories in advance and tweeking it for nutrition. Once I start the keyboard I am sure I will have to limit my time on it! New interests will keep me out of the kitchen though, there are so many new low-cal dishes I want to try! Self-control and patience. We can have it all but have to have the mind to! Feel good about the little changes and they will grow!