Whether it is finding time for exercise and stretching or making time to do something nice for ourselves, I hear the same excuse a lot. "I don't have enough time."
Well, I have a really hard time believing that from most people! We all decide how we spend our time and most people waste it scrolling on social media and binging on Netflix or TV. The reason we can't seem to make time for things we enjoy is that our belief systems are broken from unaddressed trauma and old wounds. If we work on our own healing it will help us straighten out our priorities with ease.
As a collective society, I think we are all guilty of self-medicating to some extent. I know self-medicating tends to imply using drugs or alcohol but these days I think there are many other ways we try to medicate ourselves too.
Self-medicating is a way of escaping from hurt feelings, emotions you don't want to deal with, past traumas, and stress. This "medication" looks different to everyone. It could come in the form of food, alcohol, sex, drugs, mindlessly scrolling on social media, binging on podcasts and Netflix, or even people-pleasing. It is escapism and avoidance of your own life.
Now, I think we all need to find time to shut our brains down and do something for pleasure but we have become addicted to these coping mechanisms. It isn't used for a weekly release, it is used as a daily escape. All of these habits get in the way of our health, wellbeing, happiness, and success.
Have you noticed that as soon as you have five minutes free that you pick up your phone and start scrolling? Do you understand that five minutes of deep breathing would be way more beneficial to your body and mind?! It would actually regulate your nervous system, help with your mental clarity and decrease your stress and anxiety levels so you can tackle your next activity with more ease.
Statistics show the average person spends two hours and twenty-five minutes on social media a day and spends a little over three hours on Netflix or TV a day. Add that together and you have a full-time job of distracting yourself for 37 hours a week.
What exactly are you getting out of that investment of your time?
It's no secret that social media is actually bad for your mental health causing more stress, depression, loneliness, and anxiety. In addition to the fact that your mental health has a direct correlation to your physical health, you most likely have forward head posture and rounded shoulders while scrolling which takes even more of a toll on your body. Imagine taking the phone out of someone's hands and look how they are sitting or walking, does their posture seem like they are happy or depressed?
I don't understand how we have built these lifestyles that we need to consistently escape from with distractions. We have more power now to build our life by design than we have ever had in history. There are more free tools and resources at our fingertips than ever before. There are life coaches, purpose coaches, dharma coaches, fear coaches, social anxiety coaches, and therapists. Whatever issues you are dealing with, there is someone to help guide you through them and step into the life that you truly desire.
We have to learn to stop escaping the traumas of our past, our feelings, and our emotions and deal with them once and for all. I mean they are just feelings and memories, how scary can that actually be compared to watching Criminal Minds?
These old traumas and trapped feelings are what prevent us from doing what is truly best for us. They ingrain poor habits because on a deep level we feel guilt, shame, fear, anger, or unworthiness. We have to address those issues in order to change our habits. That is why you have the best intentions to start a new habit but something seems to always get in the way, and I guarantee you it is not because you don't have enough time.
Our daily habits are the keys to our happiness. We all have 24-hours in a day. What exactly are you doing with them? It's time to be more mindful.