If you know me, you know I have made MANY changes over the last few years. Changes that have improved my life beyond what any words can say. So what is the change that I've made that has had the biggest impact on my life? Is it the elimination of processed foods and moving towards a live, whole food diet? Is it the elimination of pesticides, fungicides, herbicides, heavy metals, and toxic chemicals from my daily exposure? How about the peace that has come from lowering my impact on this planet? The action that impacted my life the most was the elimination of the TV. You heard right, the TV.
Now I liked my TV as much as the next American. I liked many of the reality shows like The Biggest Loser, The Hills and other shows like Medium captivated my Monday nights. I also loved the news. Nancy Grace and all of the current event programs sucked me in. Before that I watched 3 soap operas, (One Life to Live, All My Children and General Hospital-YUP all 3 were on during my daily duties as a mom)but after much nagging from my husband and Zig Zigler, I let those go. Now that I have been free from them for years I can see the negativity as soon as I see them for a few minutes. They literally suck the life out of you. UGH!
So we decided to take a huge jump about the beginning of March 2009. We decided to get rid of our TV and see what else life could offer besides being a zombie to the tube. It was CRAZY! It was strangely quiet! AND it was awesome! I was SO proud of myself as the days rolled on and I realized how much time the TV had been stealing from my life-and I didn't want it anymore. Everyday had so many possibilities instead of getting stuck being interested in the next program.
Even more important was separating myself from the bombardment of the constant negativity. Now if you watch TV regularly you may not be able to identify this negativity. I couldn't see it all before my TV detox. Oh, but now when I go to the gym and I'm surrounded by TV's, I can't believe what I hear. My IPOD died one day so I plugged into the TV's and I couldn't take it. They were either trying to convince me of an agenda or it was the opposite of a positive message. Then after hanging out at my brother in law's I realized it was even worse than I thought. As he channel surfed with my kids in the room, he couldn't find anything that even he thought was appropriate for them to watch. How have we as a society allowed ourselves to become so desensitized to these things. Trust me. You are no different than me. I had no problem with the TV. My enlightenment came from the lack of TV for so long. Okay, so there's one show I can think of that seems to be cool for my kids, The World's Dirtiest Jobs. :) We look for that one when we stay in hotels. BUT there are still those commercials telling us how to feel from certain clothes, hairstyles and cars.
This is how going without TV has changed my life:
-My instincts are louder and not manipulated by others anymore
-MORE time spent with my children
-MORE time spent with my husband
-More time reading books
-More time to research on the Internet
-More friends
-Tons more time outside getting my vitamin D
-More time to prepare healthy meals and relax and let my children help-Our living room isn't focused on a zombie box, in fact we sold ours a couple months ago.
I really believe that the only way to have the effects I've had is to eliminate the TV completely for a long period of time. At least a month. I know that the addiction festers if you still watch a few shows a week. At least in my experience.
So, you see lack of TV has opened up so much more time to be filled with positive things that were otherwise being filled with crap. Without TV and it's brainwashing there is room for profound changes. Sure I have no clue what the heck is going on with American Idol, but I hated that show anyways. Why do I need to know who's winning? I don't care anymore. That need is gone in me. I also don't care what drugs Lindsay Lohan is doing or the goings on of any other stars personal life. I just found out about Sandra Bullock's divorce. That's the way it should be-none of our business. I follow the news online, like the oil spill, but I limit my exposure to the negative. I am doing myself a disservice if I meditate upon it. Anyone who watches Nancy Grace knows that it is the same murder case everyday, repeating the same phrases over and over. That's not healthy for anyone. I have lost faith in all of mainstream media anyways. Too many lies. When 5 (maybe four now) companies own all of the TV stations, the facts are bound to be skewed.
I saw an article a while back about how our brain waves are in full steam when online and basically turned down (or off hehe) when watching TV. If it's a habit, turn it to the Internet. Just a thought. :)
"You watch television to turn your brain off and you work on your computer when you want to turn your brain on." Steve Jobs
Are you ready to kill your TV yet? I'll lend you a bat, or these days I guess it takes a phone to call the cable company. :) Tell them why too. It feels so great!
"Everybody’s got values . . . The thing that frightens me is the way that an eroding public school system . . . and television on all over the place is leading to a steady dumbing down of the American public and a corrosion of basic critical thinking in the population." ~Jamie Raskin, American University law professor, November 2004 on the Democracy Now! radio program
