Friday Reflection: Mindfulness in Everyday Life —Turning Off the Tap on Distractions
Have you ever looked at your water or electricity bill and wondered if someone secretly opened a mini spa in your house? Because ours has been so high lately, I started thinking we're heating the whole neighborhood. At first, I blamed everything on a broken meter, bad luck, maybe the cat's running hot showers when we're asleep. But then my wife came home with some juicy neighborhood news that got me thinking.
She said one of our neighbors stopped using hot water for laundry because their bill nearly gave them a heart attack. Then she told me something closer to home: our daughter has a habit of turning on the shower, then sitting around until the hot water runs out. I was ready to give her the classic dad talk about waste and responsibility… but before I could, life threw me a twist.
The very next day, a coworker told me how calming it feels for her to just sit in the bathroom with the hot water running. That's when it hit me, this wasn't just my daughter's thing. It's an everyone thing. Even adults do it, just in fancier ways.
I started noticing my own habits. I'll turn on the tap "just to warm it up," then get distracted scrolling through my phone like I'm waiting for an email from NASA. Meanwhile, that poor tap's been working overtime. My wife's done it too, and honestly, I think most of us have at some point. We call it "waiting for the water to heat up," but really, we're just not paying attention.
So instead of sitting my daughter down for a lecture, I decided to sit all of us down for a bit of heart-to-heart. And here's what I learned: sometimes the biggest lessons come from the most minor things, like a running tap.
We all talk about mindfulness like it's something profound, but really, it just means paying attention. It means remembering that every drop of water, every bit of electricity, costs something not just money, but the resources we share. And it means realizing that when one person wastes, the whole family feels it.
It's also about how easily we get pulled away by our phones and distractions. We live in a world that's always buzzing and pinging, so it's easy to forget what's happening right in front of us. Sometimes, the most peaceful thing we can do isn't sitting in a steamy bathroom; it's being present in the moment, even if that moment is just washing dishes or taking a quick shower.
The best part is, when we decide to do better, we all win. By being mindful together, we save money, help the planet, and set an example for each other. It's not about being perfect; it's about noticing, learning, and improving as a team.
So this weekend, I'm making a deal with my family and myself. No more running taps while the water "warms up." No more scrolling while the shower's on. Just us, paying attention, laughing about it, and doing our small part to keep things flowing in the right direction.
Because sometimes, mindfulness doesn't start with m
