Meditation has taught me to control my mind, to sit no matter if my feet are falling asleep or a thought is not desired, to have patience with myself and to understand that all things pass.
In our teched up world of instant gratification, desire for immediate feedback and sense of self-importance, we can see how our actions every day represent a lack of self-control.
When a driver speeds by me to be able to stop at the next stop light first, I am enraged at the audacity of a person’s ability to threaten my life for his/her impatience. When a person pushes by me without saying “Excuse me” or noting my existence, I am beyond irritated at the lack of awareness of another human being. When someone calls me without using their brain first, I am indeed very impatient at their inability to use their time to save mine.
Yet, despite all of these negative irritations in life, I also take advantage of what our hyped-up world offers.
In the past week I estimate I watched at least 40 hours of TV from binge-watching Season 5 of House of Cards (13 hours); completing Anne with an E (6 hours – this week); catching up on Hawaii Five-O (5 hours); binge-watching Season 1 of GirlBoss (6 hours – 12 episodes); plus various other shows here and there that would make up the rest.
If I have enough time to watch all of this TV, surely I have enough time to complete the free Coursera Psychology course I am attempting to finish for the second time. Or, indeed I would have time to write more or do more online work. I could even finish at least one of the three books I am reading at the moment. So, no more excuses, really….
After our weekend of overdosing on TV, I am self-regulating by ensuring there will be no TV on in my presence until after 5pm. I used to say until 2pm, but I think 5pm is better for a while until we get a handle on ourselves again. 😉 After all, Game of Thrones is coming soon and so I need to save up my hours for then!!!
~T 😀
