I’ve decided that in order to expand my horizons in all aspects of my life, I need to give something up for an entire month just to see how much it truly means to me. I figured for the first month I would start small: nothing too earth shattering, but, it had to be something I was likely to miss. So, for the month of June I’ve given up video games.
I’m not much of a gamer, to be truthful. I love to play videogames, but, I often only play once a week, if that. It’s more or less a last resort activity, and even then, I often pass it up for looking at the same seven websites, seven hundred more times.
And now that it’s only June 3rd, I realize: I play way more video games than I thought.
I had the idea that I wouldn’t play anymore Rock Band, and the Orange Box (Half-Life 2, Portal, etc.) and I’d be good. I didn’t realize that it meant no more Scramble on Facebook, no more Word Twist, no more Mind Jolt, no more Chain Rxn, no more pick-up NES emulator on my laptop — it had to be cold turkey, and nothing that could be construed as a video game.
And of course, this had to come during E3 week, where all the new games are being announced, making me want to play my other games more, didn’t it?
In all seriousness, there’s really no reason for me to do this. The idea is to take something that I spend a good deal of time on or a good deal of time with, or to just change something about myself for an entire month. While video gaming is not the sum of my parts, it’s big enough that giving it up and replacing it with something else is pretty difficult, and a good starting point for what’s in the pipeline.
So, what’s next?
July
Casual Internet Use — I can’t just say to my bosses “I’m sorry. I’ve decided to give up the internet, and can’t work on that.” They’ll be likely to say “We’re sorry. We’ve decided to give up paying you.” But, I can eliminate my home use for anything but email usage, and even that would be spotty at best. It’s definitely going to be a struggle, but, I have books I can read, and things I can write in the meantime. This is meant to be a mental struggle, to see how I can improve my mental health by expanding my mind.
August
All Animal Products — Another biggie. I’ve never gone longer than a day without eating meat. I’m a picky eater. And now, I decide to become a total vegan at the drop of a hat? Actually, this is more about my physical well being. People say that not eating meat makes them feel better, so, maybe I’ll try and see what it does for me. I’ll take a bunch of time from now to July looking up recipes in books at the library and looking online for stuff. I’m strangely looking forward to it.
September
I’m not sure yet. I have a few ideas, but, I have to let them ruminate.
October
Alcoholic Beverages — This’ll be the biggie. No beer. 31 day month. 2 parties to go to where drinking will be not only prevalent but expected. And I have to be sober. I can do this. I will do this. I… hope.
