Consumption. It’s something that happens all day, every day. Most do it without even thinking about it. 

But what are we even consuming? When was the last time you slowed down enough to really pay attention.

Ever?

You’re probably not the only one. 

We live in a society where it’s all about more, more, and more. We walk around and we think we know our own life but so few people actually slow down and stop to go inward and really look at it. And it’s just not the way it should be.

We’re so focused on getting more of everything as opposed to looking at what we actually need. So, what about asking ourselves why? Why are we so focused on getting more? An example is serving sizes at restaurants are at least triple what is needed, especially in America. But that’s just accepted as normal when everything around is about having more.

I think it’s also really important to ask ourselves each day, what am I consuming? What if we focused on being really cognizant about everything we consume?

I talk a lot about being intentional and living intentionally. What about intentional consumption?

You know that a couple of weeks ago I wrote about my Whole30 journey when I began being much more intentional about my food. That’s sort of what got me started thinking about this topic of consumption in general. But right now, I am not only talking about food. I’m talking about everything. When you look at consumption as defined by basic interaction, we consume so many things. Places, people, products. Where we spend our time, who we are talking to, what we are watching or listening to. It’s all part of our consumption lifestyle.

So when was the last time you took a moment to look at everything you are consuming in your life?

Because wow, when you do. It might surprise you. 

I also really encourage you to stop and listen and pay attention to how things make you feel when you’re consuming them. When I question anything, I tap into how it makes me feel. I pay attention to how everything makes me feel at my core so that is my filter when I’m choosing and being intentional about consumption. That always gives me my answer if something is good for me or not. 

So I really do encourage you to do the same. Tap into your intuition, and it can tell you the answer to whether consuming something is right for you. And be honest with yourself, and to others, if necessary.

About five years ago, my husband John suggested we need to find a new show to watch together. He was off on Mondays so we could watch something during the day together on Mondays. I’m always really busy, and I don’t have very much time to watch shows. So that was the only time I’d really watch a show. He wanted to watch Breaking Bad so that’s what we chose. People were talking about it and it’s a really popular show. But when we started watching it, I told him, I really don’t like the way it makes me feel afterward. I was really in touch with this feeling that it was giving me, sort of an anxiety that lingered after the episode finished. So I told John, I don’t have a lot of time to watch something and if it’s making me feel like that, I don’t want to watch it. I would rather watch something that made me feel good. I chose not to consume that show in my life and based on how it was making me feel. My husband ended up finishing it alone and he loved it. And it didn’t affect him as it affected me. It was an enjoyable experience for him. So consuming that show was okay for him, as it probably was for a lot of people. I have nothing against the show, I just knew it wasn’t right for me to consume it. If something doesn’t align with me or make me feel good, I don’t want to consume it in my life.

The bottom line is simply being conscious and intentional about whatever consumption we choose as well as how it contributes to our lives or makes us feel. That’s the big key. I think that by focusing on our consumption, we can also live a more fulfilled, happy life.

It is sort of like how people talk about how you become who you’re around. I totally believe in that. So I am very intentional about the people who surround me in my life. I love the people that I surround myself with because I choose them, and I choose my time with them. Being around them makes me feel good. They have strong positive spirits. They lift me up. 

Consumption is that same idea though. That idea is not just about people. You don’t just become who you’re around. You become how you spend your time too and what you consume… So be careful what you consume, just like you pay attention to the people you are around.

If we don’t stop to think about it, we can easily be consuming a lot of things that aren’t necessarily good for us or that start to weigh us down, not just physically but mentally and emotionally.

So, I challenge you to take a solid look at what you are consuming each day and each week. How much of it would you label positive consumption and how much possibly negative? Which things make you feel good and joyful? Think not just about the foods you consume but about things like your time inside versus outside or in nature, the experiences in your day, your interactions with others during the day, your choices of where and with whom you spend time.

And then when you’ve done a really good audit of your consumption, you can really focus on substituting in consumption of the positive things and experiences that bring more joy so that you’re not bogged down with all those heavier things. You can add more of those positive, feel-good things because you can over-consume them without any harm. That’s actually the over-consumption that needs to happen — time consumed on joyful activities and on experiences with people you love. The simpler things. It’s that whole idea that less is more. You don’t need to fill up your life and day with more. You can find joy in less.

That’s a really good way to live life, I think. When you dig in and just pull your consumption into better alignment with who you really are and how you really want to live, how can you help but feel lighter and brighter every day?

Now that I’ve brought it to your attention- what are YOU consuming every single day?