Take a moment to complete this sentence: "I need to quit ______________."
Quit complaining? Quit smoking? Quit Facebook? Quit volunteering? Quit gossiping? Quit stress eating? Quit hitting snooze? Quit drinking during the week? Quit picking up after the kids? Quit watching TV?
I heard a speaker talk about how she would use cigarettes to escape from real life; her kids would ask her to do something and she would say, "Well, first I need to smoke a cigarette" and she would escape to the patio for a few minutes.
It's really easy for those of us who are non-smokers to judge that, isn't it? Most days, judging is exactly what I'd do. But fortunately for me, on that particular day I listened with an open heart, and I realized that I wasn't escaping with cigarettes, but I was escaping with my phone. How often were my kids trying to talk to me, and half of my attention was on Facebook or Instagram? How often did I need to send "one more email" before I could engage with them?
Quite often, it turns out. So I've quit being on my phone when the with the kids. And I've also quit checking my phone while at red lights on my drive to and from work.
You'll notice on my original list, I suggested quitting some things that aren't necessarily unhealthy, like volunteering or picking up after the kids. Often when I suggest people implement a happiness strategy such as exercising, meditating or practicing gratitude, they resist with "But I don't have time." I'm not suggesting you just add these things to your to-do list. Sometimes you have to quit one habit to begin another.
Take a moment to complete this sentence: "I need to quit ______________."
And then quit it.
Photo by Patrick Brinksma on Unsplash