Turn Off the TV

From Feb. of 2014:

I had a really great day yesterday. I didn’t even realize that I was having a great day until I was ready for bed. It was a holiday (President’s Day), so I was able to spend that day with my family. We didn’t do anything extraordinary, in fact we had a rather boring day. However, we were doing things together and as I thought about it later, I realized I was feeling joy.

Later that evening, in a quiet moment, I did what I spontaneously do – I reached for the remote control. Luckily, the remote was sitting on a book that I was really close to finishing, so I made the decision to put the remote down and instead finish the book.

The most interesting thing I realized about yesterday is that I didn’t watch TV and it was OK. In fact, it was more than OK. When I went to sleep I was not stressed out about anything. I was content to have spent time with my family and I was thinking about the book that I just finished. In other words, I was living life. It was active and stimulating; it was so good the day went by too fast.

Contrast that with the days I just turn on the TV and do nothing – It can’t even really compare. I’ll be the first to admit that I watch way too much TV. It’s an easy escape, but as I learned yesterday it’s fake. It may be an escape, which is the problem. Why escape from life? Enjoy it, turn off the TV and have a great day.