Are You Paying Attention?

Earlier this year, my sister introduced me to a home workout program called Team Body Project. For an annual fee of $120, I can access countless exercise videos and break a sweat in the comfort of my own home.

I LOVE it!! I don’t have to leave my house and drive 15 minutes one way to a gym. I get up, get it done, and get on with my day.

Team Body Project is led by a married couple from England. They keep an upbeat banter going throughout, and offer words of encouragement along the way. Yesterday’s video closed with this tidbit, “Change comes by making consistent decisions.” This really made an impression on me. It’s a simple, almost obvious statement, but it got me wondering how many of us actually take the time to do it.

Along these same lines, I recalled an insight offered by the priest I work with in one of his homilies: the first decision we make every day is simply getting out of bed when the alarm goes off. As a former chronic snoozer of the digital alarm clock (a title that now belongs to my 18 year old daughter!), I completely understood what he was talking about. As tempting as it is to hit snooze and get nine more minutes of sleep (and nine more, followed by nine more…), I am finally learning that getting out of bed the FIRST TIME the alarm goes off is one of the best decision I can make. It gets my whole day off to a calmer, more intentional start.

So that homily and the Team Body Project quote have both got me thinking about other consistent decisions I have been (or perhaps should be) making in order to bring about change. Here’s what I’ve come up with:

I am trying to consistently decide to eat foods that are naturally grown instead of processed and packaged. I am thinking more of how the foods I choose impact my health, instead of blindly inhaling Doritos out of boredom or mindless habit. I am choosing to pay attention.

I am trying to consistently decide to leave the radio off when I’m in the car so that I can tune into God’s voice instead. I also recently disabled the notifications on my phone, because every time I saw a number there, my immediate impulse was to open it up and then get sucked into the world of scrolling, where other people’s lives (not to mention my own!) are quite literally passing me by! My goal is to pick up my phone for a purpose: to send that text. Check that bank deposit. Wish a Facebook friend happy birthday, and then be done so I can be present to my actual surroundings. I am choosing to pay attention.

I am trying to consistently decide to nurture my marriage by listening more and asking Don questions. I will send a text in the middle of the day to let him know I’m thinking of him, and I make sure to reach for his hand or give him a hug often. He thrives on that attention and appreciation. It is too easy to coast, and we have been there before. I like where we are now better. And we are there in part because I am choosing to pay attention.

Are you noticing a theme here?

How often are we truly paying attention in our day to day lives? When the standard pace of life seems to be frenetic and we are always thinking about or planning for what comes next, then there is little opportunity to fully embrace what’s right in front of us.

I am happy to say that Team Body Project’s advice to make consistent decisions when we want change is bearing fruit in my life:

I physically feel better at 51 than I did at 31.

I find comfort in silence, and my need for noise and distraction has dissipated.

I am content in my marriage, and love my husband for who he is.

These welcome changes are a reality because I am consistently deciding every day to PAY ATTENTION.