Sunday, June 29, 2008

What Would You Give Up For 30 Days?

Today over brunch, Lynnette told us that she had to choose to give up something for 30 days as part of one of her graduate classes. She is giving up internet (with the exception of classwork and email). One of her classmates decided to give up television, and others have chosen other things. It's part of their study about addictions.

It led me to think what I would give up. If I were in the class, what would I choose? What takes up too much of my time that could be used for something better?

I decided to audit the class in absentia and participate in this experiment. While there are many things that I could certainly do without, I think I will give up playing solitaire/spider solitaire/hearts on my computer. These are three simple games that I play waiting for the big, old computer to warm up, or when I'm waiting for a page to load, or when I'm waiting for the next great thought to form in my brain. But maybe the minutes spent playing can be used in more constructive ways. We'll see.

I'm not sure when the thirty days starts, since I'm not actually in the class, which also means I won't get a grade. But maybe no external reward gives me a self-motivation that an addict needs in order to stop a habit and keep it at bay.

So, for the next thirty days, beginning now, my virtual card playing days are over. I may not get a report card, but I think I'm going to get something even better - practice on overcoming a habit and finding positive and constructive activities to replace those habits. If I can learn to develop this skill and carry it over to other parts of my life, I will have earned an "A" in my book.
Class has begun!

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