A Week Alone

My wife is out of town this week for a training conference and that means I have the house (and my evenings to myself). In the past, I'd set up a stressful agenda of things to watch and do. I'd plan it out like:

• Monday: Clean kitchen, take out trash, watch two movies

• Tuesday: Laundry, clean out clothes, watch one movie

and so on. It was a bit ridiculous, but I just wanted to maximize my free time. 

This time around, I'm trying to do things a bit differently. I'm not scheduling anything, outside of my normal nightly twenty minutes of meditation. I'm going to clean the house as I feel compelled to and as far as a television agenda is concerned, there is none. I will watch TV when I have time or play video games as I desire, and I'm going to try and take it as easy possible. 

One of the things I've struggled with is a sort of completionism. I'd see an opportunity like this, where I have all of my evenings free and I'd say, "What movie series do I need to watch? What television show do I need to get through?" then I'd charge forward, not because I wanted to watch it but because I felt like it was necessary. I needed to watch the latest horror sequel so I could chat with friends, or I needed to finish up the latest Netflix series so I could chime in on the conversation. That's a terrible way to live and it's a terrible way to prioritize things that don't truly matter. 

So, now, I'm a bit more free. I watch whatever I feel like watching and when I'm tired of it, I stop, and ya know what? I'm way more relaxed and I enjoy my free time so much more.