One of my former students asked me last week whether I believe everything we do –big or small– we do for a reason. Even things like flicking from channel to channel on tv, scrolling through a Instagram newsfeed, or checking email.
I think yes.
Every little thing we do –or don’t do– is motivated by something within us. Something we believe, something we want, something we think we deserve. We have a reason for everything we do, whether we realise it or not. On a subconscious level, everything we do has a ‘why’.
And ‘Just because…’, ‘I’m lazy’, ‘I’m bored,’ ‘There’s nothing else to do’ or ‘I don’t have time’ aren’t reasons. They don’t mean anything. Oh, well actually they do…
If someone regurgitates any of those bullshit reasons upon you when you ask ‘why…?’ and you’re left standing there, all confused, zonked and scratching your noodle as to what it actually means, take out your phone, go to Google Translate, select “English→English” and put it in:
Problem (and noodle-scratching) solved. Now you understand what they mean and you can continue on your merry way in the conversation.
Taking your motivations out of your subconscious mind and into the conscious is how we can live a better life. And that’s not to say that every time you put a movie on, check your phone or play playstation you have to stop and think, ‘Why am I doing this?’. But when you find yourself doing something you’re not enjoying, or that’s boring, pointless, or making you stressed or anxious, try it. You soon find that the things you do without thinking are so much more better for you, for your life, and for the people around you, than the ones you used to.