Ladies and gentlemen, I have an announcement to make.
I have decided......
......to turn off the TV.
No, I'm not going to stop watching American Idol at this pivotal point in the season, nor am I going to miss my Jack Bauer fix during 24 every week. However, I must turn off the TV during the day. A couple of months ago we got a few more channels added to our cable setup, and whoa, buddy. I had no idea what I was missing when I didn't have ABC Family, A&E, E!, Lifetime, and Animal Planet. Gracious. There's a whole world out there that I never knew existed, and now that I know, it has sucked me in. I have the stupid TV on nearly all day, every day, even if I'm not watching it. It provides background noise as I play with Leah or do laundry or wash dishes. This, in and of itself, is not such a bad thing.....but when I begin scheduling things around Ellen's talk show or Gilmore Girls.....that, my friends, is a Bad Sign (tm). I could make projections about how this has happened, but that doesn't matter.
I'm confessing this as an accountability thing, I think, because now that it's out in the open, it sounds pretty bad and I don't like this about me. I'm vowing now to turn off the TV.
I started today. I did not turn on the Today show as I fed Leah her first bottle of the day, and I'm discovering that my day CAN get off to a good start without getting Matt Lauer's take on the news or Al Roker's predictions of the day's weather. I skipped Ellen. I am currently skipping Gilmore Girls. My heart continues to beat, my lungs continue to take in air.....and I am discovering a side effect I hadn't imagined.
I feel good.
I cannot stand a silent house. (I use the term "silent" rather loosely, since a house with an infant is rarely silent. As I type this, I hear the rhythmic creaking of her swing across the room, along with her little old man-esque snores.) In an attempt to fill the deafening silence in the house this morning, I unearthed some of my neglected praise CDs. The sounds of Passion band, Jeremy Camp, Casting Crowns, and Caedmon's Call are currently resounding through my home, and somehow......wait for it......this is more fulfilling than TV.
I know, I know. Shocking.
I did my Bible study this morning without glancing up to see what was going on on the muted TV screen. Instead, I hummed along with Chris Tomlin as he proclaimed the Lord's name to be blessed regardless of any circumstances. This, it seems, is a better approach, as I am now filled with peace and hope, and there seems to be a light about the day that I had missed without realizing it was gone. It really feels like a cool drink of water after a long walk through a dry land.
Pray for me, friends. Pray that I'll stick with this. Pray that I'll be protected from the enemy's assaults, because I am certain that he is somewhat bothered by this.
I challenge any of you who need to do so to do the same. Give it a try. We can be in this together.
Wednesday, May 06, 2009
A Cool Drink of Water
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4 of your thoughts:
Good for you, Jess! I had to do the same when Isaiah was born. Also, know that when Leah gets a bit bigger and can interact and play with you more it'll get easier too.
Thank you for your kind words. We are doing well and will continue to do well. Weird, I miss you and we've never met. Goofy.
Thank you, for EVERYTHING!
Oh, girlfriend! I know that battle well! I LOVE the TV! And I really didn't want to get cable when we moved into the new house...I wanted no access to it, but alas... the total price for cable and internet was CHEAPER than internet alone. It's all a scheme. They just want to suck us in. Grrr! This means I shall have to have some willpower. But I'm not quite willing yet to get to the place you are. I wish I were... but waking up in the middle of the night and not being able to sleep is all to frequent so I usually put in one of my DVDs of Smallville and that does the trick. Then I wake up in the morning and have to see the end of the episode (that I've generally seen 3 or 4 times before) or I'll die! ha ha!
But props to you because I've tried that before... and when I get busy or stressed and especially MORNING SICK I know I can always flop on the couch and fill my mind with nothingness.
Grr!
I think we should just never figure out how to hook up the tv in the new house. What do you say?
I'm sorta bummed though... why would comcast lose money so we can get cable? They just want to suck us in is why!
Good for you!! YOU CAN DO THIS!! We have never had cable, but we did have the bunny ears and could get a few channels... and I *had to* watch some shows every day. When it all went digital I didn't bother getting the converter box because I didn't want the option of watching tv... because it's hard to say no!!
We do have our shows we love, but we watch them online after they've aired :)
I hear you about the TV especially living alone. I like having it on just for the company and noise.
Becca, the same thing goes for me!! I got internet and cable for less than just internet...for 6 months and then it goes up a lot. It's annoying how they do that.......and how we all buy into it.
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