{31 Days} Intentional Living – Day 2

When I was thinking about doing 31 days of Intentional Living, I wasn’t entirely sure how to start.  Yesterday I defined intentional living as actively living with purpose.  My husband was so nice to let me know that some people might choose to float through life, to which I said if they actively choose that, it still fits my definition.  🙂

I started to think more about it though.  Where do I want these 31 days to take me?  Do I use it as an experiment to make me live my “best life?”  I don’t know how that would work.  See the problem with 31 days, is that it is only 31 days.  And, unless you are already living exactly how you want to be, save for a couple of things, it would be difficult to say at the end of 31 days “I have reached my goal!”

Take waking up early for instance, I started attempting this feat in August of 2011.  Not that I didn’t always wake up early (I have a 2 and 4 year old after all), but I was waking up when they woke me up, instead of dictating when I would wake up myself.  Now, after over a year, I am finally able to wake up easily (albeit entirely too early for normal people), and most of the time without an alarm.  Awesome.  But, it took me a year to be able to get to this place.  Do I really have a year for every change that I want to make?  Probably not.

I figured that I should set some goals for these 31 days.  Obviously I would like to accomplish everything that is on my ever expanding list of goals, but that isn’t realistic, and I don’t want to feel like a failure at the end of this one month!

One thing that I have been thinking a lot about for this month is Television and Internet.  Such a wonderful thing, yet also the biggest time suck that has ever been invented.  Now, I would love to say that we will get rid of the TV, but I am not there yet.  And it isn’t even cable that I am talking about – cable I could definitely do without.  It is those other fun things – netflix and hulu plus.  See, we have an internet TV, so we just play everything on the TV, just as we would if we had cable.  And since we have internet, that is the other thing that will easily grab my attention.  I am all about learning really, and having the internet available at my every whim, well, it can drive one crazy if they are not careful.

Take my early morning wake-ups.  When I first started waking up early, I would have my quiet time, pray, journal, make coffee, generally get ready for the day.  However, now, I get up, make my coffee, have a very short quiet time, and then turn on the news and get on the computer.  By the time my kids wake up and my husband is ready to leave for work, my mind is in overdrive about all that is going on in the world, and 40 new ideas for blog posts that I could possibly write…but I don’t.

I would like to take this next month and dial back on the internet and news.  I don’t need to read every single interesting blog post out there.  I also don’t need to hear about the US election anymore.  I am tired of getting riled up about the lesser of two evils, and becoming depressed by the economic outlook for our country.  Instead, I could use the time to write that book I have been telling myself I want to write for the past 5 years, or spend some time in quiet reflection.  I say dial back instead of getting rid of it altogether because I still like to watch TV and movies, and I think that you can incorporate it into your life without it taking over.  I just might need a little more space from the politics and economic news that I get absorbed in!

Being intentional about life, doesn’t mean you have to be going constantly, it means you can take a step back and really enjoy your surroundings.  I do not want to go through my life being so stressed about everything.  I wonder if the reason people seemed happier way back when was because the news wasn’t on 24 hours/day.  We didn’t need to hear about the latest xyz for a week straight, complete with pictures of the event while it is happening.

Do you find that you get absorbed into the news or other TV program?  Is it easy for you to just turn it off and go on living without knowing?  Do you feel happier for it, or do you always wonder what is going on?

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6 Comments

  1. I rarely watch/read the news…and sometimes I feel like I'm missing out–like when someone shares an interesting news story or headline that I feel I should have known….but honestly most the time I hardly even notice. There is a bit of guilt that I'm not caring about the rest of the world like I feel I should…..but it does harken back to a time when life was simpler no?

  2. I gave up TV 10 yrs ago….I did not miss a thing! my kids at home watch tv, very little, a few hours a week. and my oldest 2 out of college and my 2 in college don't even have a tv…you have no idea how much time you gain when your turn it off….
    I am your newest follower..pls follow back if you can.

  3. I'm intentionally going to be following you for these 31 days. I feel like I could have written this post. I'm trying to wake up early, so I'm relieved to hear that it didn't happen for you overnight.

    I really would like to set my television out on the curb, but I can't.

  4. I could live without the tv,but my hubby has it on whether he is watching it or not. Drives me crazy! He likes the background noise,I guess. All 3 of our grown children do the same. But I admit to using it for avoidance…and procrastination! LOL Ditto with the internet. As long as I leave the tv and the computer alone,I can do so much. But I do get sucked it by them,mostly the internet.
    I really want to break their grip on my time.And as for getting up in the morning…I really suck!! I gots lots of work to do,me thinks! Darlene

  5. The internet and phone is a huge time suck. Then again, it's relaxation/entertainment for me and I enjoy it, especially when I can work on my blog or get caught up on pinterest, which is a serious addiction.

    I get up without an alarm, have for years but it's normally between 5:30-6am, I'm good with that, although I have those occasional days when I'm up at 4am or earlier…which is not good for me personally. I'm a mess by the end of the day. Loving this series!

  6. We shut off our tv 5 years ago and I haven't missed it a bit. We do watch dvds once in a while. My biggest time suck is the internet, but the majority of that time is just my blog. I don't get too sucked into stuff like Facebook, although I usually skim it once a day.

    I have been waking up for a few years without an alarm. What's really cool is that I can even change the time I wake up if I go to bed telling myself with intent that I need to wake up at X time instead. Love it!

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