OnTheBeach: Too Much of a Good Thing is Toxic

As you may know, this year I have got into the habit of switching off my computer on a Friday night, and not switching back on until Monday morning. It’s a nice habit, and one I’m happy to continue – you wouldn’t believe how much more time you have at the weekends when you’re not messing about on Google for 6 hours a day.

But occasionally I do switch on. Last weekend was one of those times. I had a reason to switch on (although I now can’t remember what it was), but then once I was online, I milled about and mooched through a few websites and got distracted by random things and before I knew it, 6 hours had passed…and I had no idea what the beep I’d been doing for those 6 hours. Not a scooby.

What’s more, at some point I went from ‘I’m enjoying this’ (which I was, I’d forgotten how much fun it is to just randomly mooch around the internet with no purpose) to ‘this is no longer fun’ without even noticing. My internet searching became kind of manic, thoughtless, automatic, and most importantly, no fun. You know the saying “Too much of a good thing is a bad thing”? Yeah, that happened.

There is a balance in all things. Too much alcohol, too much chocolate (there is such a thing), too much hermit-time (even though I love to be a hermit, there comes a point where I become reclusive and it doesn’t feel good), too much internet, too much technology, too much sunshine (my favourite thing!)… too much of anything can become toxic, bad for you and worse, joyless. When there’s no longer any joy to be had in an activity, it’s really time to move on and go do something else.

To notice when your fun starts to turn toxic, you need to be aware of how you feel in the moment. Something that has become difficult because we are so rarely switched off, so rarely plugged in to our bodies, minds, hearts and souls; instead we are constantly bombarded with information. I can pinpoint the time when my online ‘fun’ turned toxic…but I thought ‘just a little more’; ‘I’ll just look at this’; ‘I’ll stop in a minute’. I didn’t. Another 2 hours passed.

The April Daily Practice has been to Do What You Want To Do which has helped me become more self-aware. I’m checking in with myself at least once a day to check what I really feel like doing, and noticing that sometimes I want to just watch tv, and sometimes I want to read, and sometimes I want to sit and stare, and sometimes I want to sleep…and if I check in with how I feel in that moment, nothing has time to become toxic, because my body, mind, heart and soul know what I need in every moment.

I just need to take the time to pay attention, or else the tv gets switched on and I’m there for the night, watching stuff I’m not interested in; or I start surfing Auntie Google and realise the day has gone and I’m fed up and tired; or I start eating chocolate…and just don’t stop until it’s all gone, by which point I feel a bit sick!

Are you aware of when you’re having too much of a good thing, or do you find out only later when you realise that you’ve wasted half the day with no idea what you were doing or eaten all the pringles without remembering a single bite? If it’s the later, maybe it’s time to pay attention? Pay attention to how you feel, start setting limits on how much time you will spend on activities you tend to do for ‘too long’, and start making sure that the things you find fun stay fun and don’t become toxic.

– Something to Play With –

For the next week, notice how you feel after a prolonged period of activity. Do you feel happy, energised, like your time was joyously spent, or tired, grumpy and wondering where the hell the day went? Pay attention to the point at which something fun becomes toxic…and if it feels right to do so, make a different choice! You may also want to join in with the Daily Practice Do What You Want To Do for the rest of April. Want to share your thoughts on this article? Leave me a comment below.

Love

Donna.x