Changing Plans

My last blog post was about list making. One of the results of my own list making was adding 20 minutes of unadulterated music-listening to become more centered. Let’s just say when one is trying to balance their life; adding more things is a bad idea. I mean a very awful idea.

I didn’t get to do it and I felt guilty for not doing it. I actually felt bad about myself for not spending time alone listening to music. Who does that?

*raises and waves my hand emphatically* Oh, I know!

Me.

Since this had the exact opposite effect I wanted, I decided on a change of plans. Instead of adding, I’m going to prioritize and then take away. Actually I already prioritized because I figured you did not want to hear every tiny detail of my thought process like when I actually created a Pro/Con list about watching True Blood.  And my husband thinks I’m an over-analyzer. I wonder if he knows me at all. *shakes head*

I digress. I found that a lot of the things I do, I don’t need to be doing. And they don’t add much to my life, however easy and/or entertaining they may be. Mainly, I’m talking about TV. I found I watched shows I didn’t even care for just because they were on. This is where the unhappy part comes in. Taking TV away from me is like taking video cameras away from the Kardashians. And honestly, I couldn’t just get rid of all TV watching cold-turkey. So I thought a compromise could be made.

 I am disconnecting my DirecTV.

I know, this thought horrifies me a little as well. Will I become one of ‘those’ people who don’t own any TVs? And when someone makes a witty joke involving pop culture (like Justin Beiber or the Kardashians) I won’t know what they’re talking about?!

Banish the thought!       

Which is why I’m keeping Netflix. It will be much easier to control my TV time. I also won’t be able to record every episode of every show that sounds kind of interesting until my DVR queue is insane and I feel like I Must. Get. Through. Every. Show. I’m pretty sure I’ve watched every episode of Rules of Engagement. Patrick Walburton aside, it’s not worth the time.

So that’s my advice to you: Prioritize your life, everything you do. List things from cooking to watching TV. Separate the have to dos from the want to dos. This doesn’t mean we have to take away all of our want tos, it just means we should prioritize them, making sure we’re making time for doing our most favorite things. And those things that make us feel the most fulfilled and engaged in life.

I’m going to continue to cut down on what I do and continue to prioritize. I’m almost done with school so that will give me a different perspective I’m sure, so I’ll probably prioritize again. But I’m going to be thoughtful about my choices.

Sorry True Blood, maybe I’ll see you on DVD next year.