Nothing Exciting Happened Today

What if nothing exciting happened today?

What if today was just relatively boring as you slowly got all your work and responsibilities done?

After work you went to the gym and then had a quiet meal without any YouTube, just sitting there.

You went through your routines instead of going to the bars or watching a movie.

Maybe just had a small conversation with a friend or partner.

Then went through your routines, brushed your teeth, got in bed, and went to sleep.

That sounds… good in theory but also soo boring.

And the last thing you want is to have a boring life, right?

Your life is meant to be exciting!!

Or… is it?

I mean think about it, does excitement actually equal fulfilling?

No.

“Excitement” is a part of life, but it is not the entirety of life.

When we look at it through this lens, it’s pretty obvious the error in our perspective.

If days without excitement are bad, then we will also define anything that is not exciting as bad as well.

Meditation? Not exciting – bad.

Journaling? Not exciting – bad.

Going to sleep early? Not exciting – bad.,

Sitting down at my desk with my phone off? Not exciting – bad.

You get the point.

This isn’t about removing excitement from your life.

I love heart-racing, adrenaline pumping, anxiety provoking adventure.

It’s about recognizing that if your frame is not exciting = bad, then you have established that all time spent doing things that aren’t exciting, or that days without excitement, are bad too.

You are declaring to yourself that getting your work done is a bad way to spend your time.

Let me repeat that a different way.

You are choosing to suffer.

You are choosing to view the less-exciting parts of your days as bad, so of course you resist them.

The greatest lives I can think of were those of people who lived a life of adventure.

But a life of adventure is not the same as days with 100% adventure.

Every remarkable documentary you watch also requires 10x the amount of time spent adventuring to untangle camera cords, repair your gear and make sure it’s all there, get that tent or tool back you lent to a friend, organize files on a computer, battle frustration with random softwares, network with people that do and don’t care to advertise the message, etc.

Lots of quiet, in the office, sometimes boring shit.

But that doesn’t mean that it’s bad or unfulfilling.

Unless, and here’s the key:

You decide that it is.

And the more you tell yourself that story, the more you dig yourself into a hole, constantly seeking “excitement,”

Which, because it is not possible (or desirable) to have a life without the slower moments, leads you to seek pleasure and excitement through your phone, your TV, your vices.

The lesson?

The stories you consciously or unconsciously tell yourself about how life should feel are leading you to seek unfulfilling sources of satisfaction which in turn leads you into tangible negative behavioral feedback loops of procrastination and poor focus.

You. Are. Choosing. To. suffer.

The ball is always in your court.