Taking My Own Advice

Know what’s the hardest thing for me to do sometimes? Take my own advice. It’s very easy to tell others what they should be doing. However, I need to heed my own convictions. I have to remember, I’m learning right along with you.

I’m taking the TV out. I don’t mean physically removing it, but I’m shutting down watching television shows. It’s become a huge time waster, not for my children, but for me.

I rationalize watching the thing by saying it’s okay to vegg out after putting in a hard day. The difficulty comes in defining what vegging out means: shutting my brain down completely or finding genuine ways of relaxing. I guess it’s time to be more productive in how I use my evening hours.

This isn’t a spontaneous decision. You know how when a thought crosses your mind, it then seems that every time you turn around something pops up to corroborate your thinking? I recently spent time comparing cable vs. satellite companies as we prepare to move into our new home, and I saw how much more money we’re going to pay when we leave our current service.

The clincher for me came when I read Nick Kennicott’s post about how he and his wife are basically forsaking everything electronic for the next year in order to focus on more productive activities. That did it for me. What he said made too much sense and hit close to home. I’m following his family’s example.

What do the children and the hubby think about it? Our children really don’t watch the television all that much. Their obsessions lie with the computer and video games (guess what kids….). My husband agreed he can get his news and weather updates online. I’m the one who will be going through television withdrawal. But if I’m going to preach doing the hard thing and spending more time connecting with family, then I need to remove the obstacles to doing that.

I started last night. I didn’t turn the TV on at all. Instead, I went on a walk around the neighborhood with my daughter.

It was really, really nice.