Reruns

Anyone who knows me, knows that at any given time, I'm generally watching some sitcom from the 80s, 90s or at latest, the early 2000s. While I was watching a familiar tv show today, I thought about how young one of the actors looked in this episode. I recalled seeing him recently in a reunion show and was shocked by how much he has aged. Part of the shock came from the fact that I watch reruns so much. I see so little of him in real life, that I have a hard time seeing him in his current state. That's the problem with watching a show that was taped 17-20 years ago, a show that is no longer even on the air.

Then it hit me. How many things in our lives are over but we still keep watching the "re-runs?" How many times do we rehearse the past and miss the present because we are tuned into last season. We can recite the lines and reenact the roles even though the series was cancelled. There are new episodes, new seasons and new opportunities available but we stay tuned into things that happened 5, 10, 15 years ago. Then, as we get a glimpse of the present, it looks so unfamiliar because we've been watching the reruns.

There are plenty of comforting things about watching re-runs: the familiarity, the predictability, the simplicity, even.  A few months back, there were so many things happening in the real world that I just wanted to avoid. Hulu had just launched the return of TGIF shows and I was so excited to have an escape route.  I even posted, “if you are looking for me, I’ll be back in the 90s.”  I’m sure I spent that whole weekend watching Family Matters and Boy Meets World. While I was comforted and soothed, nothing about my reality was changed or different.  My avoiding the current events did not make them go away. People were still mistreating and threatening the safety of others. People who were once cherished were being outted for their true colors. The world was still happening despite how much I wanted to focus on Steve Urkel’s affection for Laura or Corey and Topanga’s first date.  That’s just the thing, staying in a familiar place does not change your reality; it just delays the inevitable and maybe causes things to get worse because you aren’t tending to the things that matter.

You have a choice: keep living in the past or live life in real time, prime time! It’s a new season with new adventures to be lived and new roles to play out.  Even though people may enjoy the cycles you have been in, do you? I read that one of the reasons Family Matters ended was because the actor who played the main character was tired of being Steve Urkel. He knew that he was maturing and the role did not fit him anymore. Much to our chagrin, the show ended and he went on to do other things that allowed him personal fulfillment.  There may be people who enjoy you in your past and they are the only ones who benefit from that role.  You have to know when you have outgrown this character and allow yourself the freedom to be the version of you that pleases you.  Don’t allow people to typecast you because that was their favorite version of you.  You are more versatile and creative than that and the world needs the NOW you.

So today, I encourage you to decide to change the channel, pick a different show and see what's on primetime! Life is happening all around you. Don't miss it.