What time did you wake up this morning? How easy...or how difficult...was it for you to get up? Does that sound like a silly question? It's not really. For far too many of us, we don't really want to get up when we are supposed to each day. I know the feeling. So do you.
Once we are up, how easy or how difficult is it for you to dress up? Are you one of those people who will turn articles of clothing inside out in order to get more "wear" out of it today? Don't laugh. I knew a cook who did that constantly. Pants inside out...shirt inside out. It didn't matter to him until both sides became splattered enough with whatever he was cooking; then he finally changed clothes.
Lastly, what does it take for you to show up where you are supposed to be? Do you make a habit of being on time to your scheduled appointments...or not? What about as showing up relates to your job? I actually knew a girl back in the day who would swan into our office between 9:30-10:00AM each morning. We were supposed to all be there by 8:15. She didn't last long. I don't know if she ever got the memo about showing up on time...but she sure didn't live it out too well during her short tenure with us.
Getting up, dressing up, and showing up is a tenant of the "responsible" adult life which applies to all of us---and not just some. Yet you'd be amazed how many people have great difficulty with any one or a combination of these basic daily tasks. How can this be, you may wonder? Well, the answers to this question are numerous---but they all pretty much boil down to avoiding personal responsibility.
If it is easier to "not" do something we are supposed to...and we do something else instead....we are, simply put, avoiding responsibility.
In our business (of psychology), these tasks are referred to as "Activities of Daily Living" (or ADL's) and include other things besides just getting up, dressing up, and showing up. Do you brush your teeth as you should each day? Do you wash your hair and take a shower on a consistent basis? Can you use the bathroom without assistance? Can wash your clothing, and/or iron it, and put it onto your own body? Are you able to prepare your own food to eat? Can you walk on your own from one place to another? Without successfully being able to pursue our ADL's....the next steps involve some degree of professional intervention. As we all know, elderly people who become less and less independent are an obvious target market for this type of intervention. Yet, for those of us who are in our 20s, 30s, or 40s...what's our excuse when our minds and bodies are health enough?
It doesn't take a genius to figure out that much of what prevents us from doing what we are supposed to, like getting up, dressing up, and showing up IS something else that we are making a higher priority in our lives. Like alcohol, food, or drugs; like an undiagnosed and untreated form of mental illness, and/or like all of the above coupled with a literally slothful nature. Yes, I said it. Some of us are just lazy and don't care that we are lazy. We like doing what we want to do whenever we feel like it, and that's enough for us. What this lifestyle choice leads us to shouldn't be surprising...but it still often is.
One of my more recent favorite shows on cable is "My 600 Lb. Life". I love this show! In it, we see what makes the mind of a serious food addict tick. You'd be amazed at the excuses people on this program come up with in order to justify their eating between 10,000-30,000 calories each day. Even more amazing, how upset they can become when they are restricted from eating mindlessly and without restraint (via forced hospitalization). It's a fascinating show. It is also one he** of an example of how easy it is to allow our "addictions" to control and steer our life's course...right into the proverbial ditch.
If you recognize your own tendency to avoid getting up, dressing up, and showing up....maybe this is the time for you to make a phone call to your medical doctor, a psychotherapist such as myself, or someone else who can encourage you toward taking right and proper action. The best indicator of mental health and well being we have is our ability to live fully in the present...and make right choices for ourselves while we're in it. Being our best selves shouldn't be difficult. All it takes is that first step in a righter direction.
Have a great week!
Once we are up, how easy or how difficult is it for you to dress up? Are you one of those people who will turn articles of clothing inside out in order to get more "wear" out of it today? Don't laugh. I knew a cook who did that constantly. Pants inside out...shirt inside out. It didn't matter to him until both sides became splattered enough with whatever he was cooking; then he finally changed clothes.
Lastly, what does it take for you to show up where you are supposed to be? Do you make a habit of being on time to your scheduled appointments...or not? What about as showing up relates to your job? I actually knew a girl back in the day who would swan into our office between 9:30-10:00AM each morning. We were supposed to all be there by 8:15. She didn't last long. I don't know if she ever got the memo about showing up on time...but she sure didn't live it out too well during her short tenure with us.
Getting up, dressing up, and showing up is a tenant of the "responsible" adult life which applies to all of us---and not just some. Yet you'd be amazed how many people have great difficulty with any one or a combination of these basic daily tasks. How can this be, you may wonder? Well, the answers to this question are numerous---but they all pretty much boil down to avoiding personal responsibility.
If it is easier to "not" do something we are supposed to...and we do something else instead....we are, simply put, avoiding responsibility.
In our business (of psychology), these tasks are referred to as "Activities of Daily Living" (or ADL's) and include other things besides just getting up, dressing up, and showing up. Do you brush your teeth as you should each day? Do you wash your hair and take a shower on a consistent basis? Can you use the bathroom without assistance? Can wash your clothing, and/or iron it, and put it onto your own body? Are you able to prepare your own food to eat? Can you walk on your own from one place to another? Without successfully being able to pursue our ADL's....the next steps involve some degree of professional intervention. As we all know, elderly people who become less and less independent are an obvious target market for this type of intervention. Yet, for those of us who are in our 20s, 30s, or 40s...what's our excuse when our minds and bodies are health enough?
It doesn't take a genius to figure out that much of what prevents us from doing what we are supposed to, like getting up, dressing up, and showing up IS something else that we are making a higher priority in our lives. Like alcohol, food, or drugs; like an undiagnosed and untreated form of mental illness, and/or like all of the above coupled with a literally slothful nature. Yes, I said it. Some of us are just lazy and don't care that we are lazy. We like doing what we want to do whenever we feel like it, and that's enough for us. What this lifestyle choice leads us to shouldn't be surprising...but it still often is.
One of my more recent favorite shows on cable is "My 600 Lb. Life". I love this show! In it, we see what makes the mind of a serious food addict tick. You'd be amazed at the excuses people on this program come up with in order to justify their eating between 10,000-30,000 calories each day. Even more amazing, how upset they can become when they are restricted from eating mindlessly and without restraint (via forced hospitalization). It's a fascinating show. It is also one he** of an example of how easy it is to allow our "addictions" to control and steer our life's course...right into the proverbial ditch.
If you recognize your own tendency to avoid getting up, dressing up, and showing up....maybe this is the time for you to make a phone call to your medical doctor, a psychotherapist such as myself, or someone else who can encourage you toward taking right and proper action. The best indicator of mental health and well being we have is our ability to live fully in the present...and make right choices for ourselves while we're in it. Being our best selves shouldn't be difficult. All it takes is that first step in a righter direction.
Have a great week!