"Life isn't about finding yourself. Life is about creating yourself."
George Bernard Shaw
After I got home today, I did what I almost always do when I walk in the door -- I turned on the TV. Often I will turn it on and walk away, going about other business, leaving it on simply for the noise or the music. Today, however, my cable wouldn't work. I tried getting online, and the internet wouldn't work, either. I called xfinity, and the computerized program let me know that they were having difficulties with the cable and internet in my area and that they would be up again by roughly 8:00 p.m. I was a little irritated, and laughed at myself for being so accustomed to and dependent on technology. So, instead, I lit candles all around my living room and dining room, put my iTunes on shuffle, and danced around while doing the dishes and cleaning up the apartment. Not kidding. Did I look ridiculous? Probably. Was it a refreshing change from having the TV on? Definitely.
For some people, it's not TV. It's Facebook. Or Twitter. Or their cell phones. Something they instinctively turn on, check, or update because it provides a sense of security, comfort, or connection to other people that they feel they would not have otherwise.
I'm not gonna go all radical on you and vow to give up TV or internet for a week or even for a day. For you who do that, all the power to ya. My point is simply to convey the sense of happiness, energy, peace, and joy that an unexpected change of pace can bring. I'm smiling as I write this . . . hell, I don't even care if the cable is working again, I don't want to turn it on. (I obviously have the internet working . . . obviously.) I want to enjoy this, right here, this change of pace, this break from something to which I am so accustomed. It's refreshing. It's switching up an otherwise normal pattern. It's beautiful.
You should try it. And by that I mean doing anything that changes up an otherwise normal pattern for you. Take a different route home from work. Try a new restaurant. Instead of calling your woman "beautiful," tell her she's "breathtaking." Send a sexy text to your man while he's at work. (And be sure to follow through with it when he gets home ;) ) Read that book you've been meaning to start. It can be anything. Anything to change life up a little. Maybe it will seem pointless, maybe it will make you smile, but you won't know if you don't try. Just live. Live, and do it on purpose.