After a long day, I used to look forward to relaxing.

Sitting.

Staring.

Idle.

At a lit up screen which captivated me and entranced me.

Sedated me.

I would stare endlessly at this gigantic screen on my wall which told me what to think, cued me when to laugh, and convinced me which emotion to wield at any given time.

This was relaxing.

Numbing, actually.

I have spent thousands of hours of my life being entertained not by design, but by lack of focus.

By default.

Most of this entertainment I cannot recall.

Time lost.

It seemed right at the time. It served a perfect purpose in the moment. It allowed me to be swallowed by inaction, idleness, and decline.

I looked to escape. I had nothing else. I needed escape.

The hours I spent staring hypnotically into a lit-up screen became my life in the hours I did not dedicate to work that I did not want to do.

I made certain that when I was involved in the humanistic trance of entertainment that I was not serving any other useful purpose either.

Not relating with my family.

Not reading.

Not critical thinking.

Not productive activities.

I fully committed myself, completely, to becoming lost in the hypnosis.

The producers knew what I needed to focus on to fully participate in lifewhy should I bother?

Why should I bother to manage my own thoughts?

I should I bother to control my own emotions?

I could just hand them over to someone else.

There are people brilliant people who get paid handsomely to tell me what to think and believe, how to be happy on cue, and what products and services I need in my life.

Why should I bother to manage my own thoughts?

They know better than me.

I turned my life over to them, so they could manage my off-time.

I noticed my family doing the same thing.

I led them and was a shining example of a sedate, unproductive life.

So when the unproductive life I lived manifested a lack of productivity, I found myself with nothing else except an addiction to the trance, and the seeming inability to entertain myself.

My own thoughts were radically painful. They were full of the desire to sedate, chaos and catastrophe, and want for things I did not need.

I caused my own unraveling.

So only when forced, I turned off the screen. I found other things to do.

I read. I exercised. I listened to audio-books of people living an enriched life. I began spending time with incredible people playing life at a level well above my own.

I began the process of regaining control of my thoughts, my beliefs, my emotions, my habits, my character, and my outcomes.

I stopped handing the keys to others to form my thoughts and emotions.

The changes caused pain, hurt, and panic in my family.

Change is hard.

My family fought back.

But I would not regress. I would be the example. I would not waiver.

I was determined for all of us to attain a more enriched life. Sedation detracts from our true nature, our purpose, our dreams.

It was not easy.

Over time, the screen remained dark for longer stretches. We made more trips to the library. We conversed more. We found more love.

We related. Like we were family.

Again.

Everything serves a purpose. When used intentionally to enrich, to connect, to relate, to bond, to produce

everything can serve as a means of creating happiness. Not sedation. Not numbing. Not idleness.

Happiness. Real joy.

The kind of happiness and joy we are meant to find in this life.

Not wasted hours in a hypnotized trance.

Wasted. That you will never get back.

Connect. Love. Appreciate. Enrich.

Employ all earthly assets intentionally and purposefully.

Use everything created and existing to serve, to advance.

Failure to advance, grow, expand, is to stagnate.

And we were not meant to stagnate but to flourish.

By our very nature, we are meant to evolve as we walk our journey.

Evolution of each individual into a High-Performing being is essential for creating the very best life possible.

To attain the best life, you must assume absolute personal responsibility for your outcomes.

And only by assuming absolute personal responsibility, can you allow the perfect unfolding of your true lifes purpose.

And to realize your lifes purpose is the purpose of your life.

This post was previously published on Mike Kitko and is republished here with permission from the author.

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Are You In a Trance? - The Good Men Project