January is almost over and my projects, or resolutions, for 2011 have yet to even begin! Mostly I've been focusing on the watch less TV resolution which is proving to be ridiculously difficult! I hate to admit it, but I love TV! I also love reading and doing other things, and I believe the whole point of making these projects for myself this year was to stop wasting my time watching stupid television shows and get into action! I'm resigning to my "old age" too soon. I didn't watch TV all through high school or college. Why? Because I was the social butterfly (I hate that term, but I don't know what else to use at this moment) and I was ALWAYS out and about, socializing, having fun, doing things with other people! During graduate school I didn't watch much TV either. I didn't have time between working full-time and studying every other second of the day I wasn't working (and even some while I was working.) But ever since then, since getting real jobs in the real world that require me to actually work hard for 8-10 hours a day, all I want to do during my freetime now is nothing. Or, in other words, be a couch potato and watch TV.
My daily routine was this: Wake up. Work, work, work, all day. Get home around 6:30. Make food and sit in front of TV until 10:00. Go to bed.
I was getting nothing done during the week! I was in a daze each night, and felt stressed out during the day because of all the errands and other stuff that needed to be done that I was simply ignoring each night. I felt like TV was starting to rule my life. I wanted to actually read and write in my journals again. I wanted to do something productive! Therefore "Michele's Project 2011" was born. Mission: get off my lazy, TV-addicted butt and DO SOMETHING.
It's been harder than I thought. Granted, my husband and I enjoyed making some awesome dinners that first week. We both were reading some great books, and it was nice to not be depressed and terrorized by the nightly news before going to bed. Then... it just started going down hill. I don't know why or how, it just did. He got sick of reading, we both got sick of cleaning up the major disasters we made in the kitchen after our gourmet meals, and we both kinda just wanted to watch a new favorite show we're catching up with on Netflix instant play! Besides, it still gets dark early, and it gets super freezing cold in our house, so all I want to do is cuddle up in a blanket anyway!
Last week I was starting to feel so irritated with this "rule" I had made for myself about TV! I was starting to get rebellious and angry with the restriction. And that, I decided, was not healthy and not the purpose of my resolution.
At Trader Joe's I gained new inspiration. At the checkout, I saw a poster they had on their window with three resolutions they have for the new year. It's one of those marketing ploys to get customers to come back to their store, of course, but it struck me as something I should follow in my own life and stop trying to deprive myself. Number 1 was the classic, all important "Eat healthy." Of course it was! It's Trader Joe's after all! I can't remember what number 2 was, but it was probably something about exercising or something Trader Joesish. Number 3 was what hit me and made me rethink my own resolution number one. "Try something new." There it was, so simple yet so profound. Instead of thinking of my resolution to watch less TV as restrictive and wanting to rebel against my own rule so badly it was making me be a miserable person, I should think of it as an opportunity to TRY SOMETHING NEW! Wasn't this the exact reason I made the "rule" in the first place? Some of my other projects for this year actually already fit into the category of trying something new... such as camping. Sorry, but that won't be happening until it gets a little warmer. However, this is now the time to pull out my dusty sewing machine, and crack open the covers of those French books or even brush up on my very rusty Spanish.
It just seems so painfully obvious, but thank you Trader Joe's for reminding me and pointing out that watching less TV is all about trying new things.
(One of which might be joining a bowling league, but that's for another discussion.)
Great entry!!! You're very right. It is so difficult to stop doing something like watching TV every night when you've been doing it for a while. I would suggest cutting down your "TV package" if they still exist. You would have less channels...ie...less choices and spend less money. After a while, you don't really miss what you don't have. In France there is a channel called M6 that plays a lot of old American shows. About two years ago it simply stopped working in my building. I was furious and devastated. It didn't last long however...I now realise that I waste less time watching dumb shows and more time watching documentaries, travel & cooking shows, etc... Can't wait to see your first fabric creation! xxx
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