Living With Intention

Please excuse the mess. Experience Life blogs are also being renovated.

(Photo by Yannig Van de Wouwer)

I've realized over the past few months that I spend a lot of time "zoned out." Instead of taking lunch to emerge from my cave for a few minutes of sun or human interaction, I scarf down something that only vaguely resembles food and mindlessly scroll through my bloated feed reader. After making dinner at night, I'll plop down in front of the TV for the soul-numbing screeching of that harpy on So You Think You Can Dance (turns out most contestants do think that. Go figure).

Even my workouts have taken on an unconscious sort of drudgery. I run because that's what my rut-of-a-schedule dictates. And I've been meaning to reestablish my yoga practice, but I've just been so busy (see: reality TV). It's scary to think of how much time I waste by being disengaged from my behaviors and habits -- from life.

Then, a couple of weeks ago, a very special lady reminded me of a little piece of advice that I'd like to share with you. Her name is Whoopi Goldberg, and this is what she had to say:

If you want to be somebody, if you want to go somewhere, you better wake up and pay attention.

Sister Act 2: Back in the Habit, anyone? Well, whether or not you agree with my obviously suspect amazing taste in cinema, Sister Mary Clarence can teach a valuable lesson here.

Simply put: Pay attention. How much time during each day do we spend completely checked out? With the growing amount of alluring distractions that modern technology offers, it's amazing that we're able to be conscious at all. It takes concentration and commitment -- and recommitment and recommitment and recommitment -- to be fully present and engaged in your day-to-day tasks. And that's no easy feat.

Places to Start

Be aware. Hold yourself accountable to your choices throughout the day by keeping a written log of everything you do (try to be as specific as possible).
 
Review how much time you spent on purposeless activities (Web or channel surfing, mindless eating, jumping on the elliptical and zoning out, etc.).
 
Ask yourself why you are choosing to spend your time in that way. Confronting the unconscious decisions we make is a great way to start reclaiming our time.
 
Consider what fulfilling and enriching pursuits could replace the time currently spent as a zombie, or how much you could accomplish -- and how much richer the experience would be -- if you were engaged in your work rather than just going through the motions.
 
Try something new. It's harder to zone out while you're doing something that you've never done before -- and possibly deadly if that something is, say, swimming with sharks. Challenge yourself, fully commit to the task at hand and experience the joy of being present and accounted for in your own life.
 
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My goal, or rather, my intent, in the coming weeks is to live consciously and with purpose. No more aimless exercise -- I will be picking a summer event to train for in the coming days (ooh, suspense! Stay tuned!), and reevaluating my fitness goals. I also will be searching for ways to replace my zone-out time with creative and compelling activities.

Maybe I could try some sort of blacksmithing class like Laine did. I've always wanted to weld things...
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For more tips on how to act with intention, check out David Bohl's tips at Slow Down Fast.