Changing Your Channel
Yesterday I got back home after a great time working and an
amazing time playing. I was with a group of over worked underappreciated folks
who work in hospital food service and then I hung out with two of my sisters. I
was flying out first thing in the morning, so of course we laughed all night.
When I got in, I was more tired than normal so I decided to
take a nap but it became an all-day sleep-in.
I woke up in the wee hours of the morning and had a difficult
time trying to read, so I decided to try to watch something on TV instead; I
should have stuck with the book.
I was watching a sweet little story on the Hallmark channel called
The Magic of Ordinary Days. It was about
a young woman, played by Kerri Russell, who got pregnant by a soldier on leave who
was forced to marry a nice stranger; played by Skeet Ulrich; the thinking woman’s
Johnny Depp. I know sounds great, right?
With the exception of me trying to understand why the woman
could not love the incredibly wonderful farmer dude played by the Skeet, the
movie actually had my attention. What drove me nuts and made me try to find the
well hidden remote (no I could not get up and turn the TV off like in the old
days) was the fact that there were more
commercials than there was movie and each one was more menacing than the next.
I began to fear for my identity, my money and my health. Let
me explain; these commercials informed me that right then at that moment,
someone was trying to steal my identity. The next one was about wealth building
and how I was losing money and the IRS was going to take it and where is that
remote.
Then came the obligatory you can lose weight by tomorrow
commercials and all I wanted to do was find out if Kerri was ever going to love
Skeet.
I kept thinking that TV
was like a cigarette company; they sell you on the tobacco and all the cool
that comes with it, but they’re really delivering nicotine. In the process, you
are addicted and can’t control it. (Where is the remote?)
In my haze, I began
to wonder what life would be like if it came with a remote control. I could
stop the drama I didn’t want and turn to something informative. I could fast
forward past the commercials and watch only what I wanted to see.
Then suddenly without
warning, my TV went black and I didn’t know why. A few moments later, it came
back on and it occurred to me that I do
have a remote and I am in control of the channels; it’s called choice.
I can choose drama or
comedy and I can choose action. Your
life can be a thriller or it can be a musical. You can fast forward past
the commercials or you can get hooked on someone else’s pitch.
I finally did find the remote; so I turned off the TV and tuned into my
own dreams. And yes, Kerri finally fell for Skeet.
Be you, be well, Choose your own story.
Bertice Berry, PhD.
Your so right, Bertice! Many of us go through life not actually realizing we have choices. We think we are making choices, but are we? It is those little choices all through the day and night that maybe, we don't recognize that shape our behaviors, attitudes and actions.
ReplyDeleteThank you for reminding us to be present in every moment to make the choices of creating the life we are meant and want to have.
Being present in every moment helps us to be synergistic with our life!
Ashley Lee, RN