Category Archives: Personal Health

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10 Great Reasons to Turn Off the T.V.

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According to the A.C. Nielsen Co., the average American watches more than 4 hours of TV each day (or 28 hours/week, or 2 months of nonstop TV-watching per year). In a 65-year life, that person will have spent 9 years glued to the tube.

The most disturbing stat to me in this report is that children ages 2-11 spend an average of 24 hours a week in front of the tube. That’s 1/7 of their whole week!

We are some of the weirdos out there who don’t have cable. Our exposure to T.V. is pretty much limited to an occasional family movie night over the weekend. So I would say our family averages 2 hours a week or less of time in front of the screen.

There are multiple reasons we have decided to limit our time in front of the tube. I think I could probably come up with 100, but 10 will have to suffice for the length of a blog post 🙂

10 Great Reasons to Turn Off the T.V.:

1. More Time with God – Most of us are busy people. We may find it difficult to see when we can make time for a personal and reflective devotional life. Here may be a simple solution: Give up T.V., movies, and/or social media and choose instead to invest that time in prayer, bible study, and personal worship.

2. More Time with People – I have been in homes where the television stayed on continually. Conversations would be interrupted, diverted, or non-existent due to the distraction of a T.V. screen.

When you turn off the set, you have time to really talk – to connect. To hear someone express their complete thoughts on a subject that is important to them. To play a game (yes, a board or card game or even just hide and seek) with your child.

People are more awesome than T.V. because they can love you back.

3. Less Wasted Time – I love this quote:

“Spending an evening on the World Wide Web is much like sitting down to a dinner of Cheetos… two hours later your fingers are yellow and you’re no longer hungry, but you haven’t been nourished.” ~Clifford Stoll

It’s pretty much the same with T.V. I have often heard people lament “That is two hours of my life that I can never get back!”

4. Greater Contentment – Commercials are great at showing us everything we don’t have, making us hungry when we just finished a big dinner, and insisting that we “owe ourselves” some stupid item that is utterly forgettable.

In addition, sitcoms and movies can present unreal lives and views of romantic love (among other things) that can leave us discontent with the reality of our own lives. As Sally’s friend says to her in “Sleepless in Seattle,” “You don’t want to be in love! You want to be in love IN A MOVIE!”

5. Better Personal Health – I don’t have space to quote all the stats that prove how frequent T.V. watching promotes a sedentary lifestyle and contributes to health problems such as obesity, insomnia, and other major issues in our country. When you are “zoned out” in front of the screen, you can easily put away an entire bag of chips or a pint of ice cream without even noticing.

It’s also easy to get “lost” in a movie or show and stay up way too late, thus depriving you of much needed sleep that will leave you stumbling into your morning with less focus and energy.

6. More Time to Read – My whole family loves to read. I adore reading a wide variety of books – from classics to spiritual growth books to biographies or educational ones – they all leave my soul richer, wiser, and more thoughtful.

For many of you, there may be a whole list of books you have wanted to read but just “haven’t had the time.” Cut out T.V. and media and see how many of those books you can knock off your list!

7. Less Stress – How, might you say, will cutting out T.V. time also help eliminate some stress from your life? Well, the time you spend watching T.V. can divert you from things you really actually need to do – like fixing a broken faucet, cleaning the kitchen, or packing your kids lunches for the next day.

8. More Quiet Space and Solitude

“We all need empty hours in our lives or we will have no time to create or dream.” ~Robert Coles

Quiet time to just reflect, create, work on a hobby or project or goal you want to achieve is priceless. Embrace it and thrive.

9. To Be An Example to the Next Generation –

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I’m going to go off on a little tangent here about kids watching T.V. because I have a bunch of them. Kids are amazingly creative individuals who have the capacity to create their own fun, use their minds, imagine, work with others, and accomplish great things…if we don’t dumb them down with excessive screen time.

When we expect our kids to need to be entertained by a t.v., tablet, ipod, or other electronic gadget, we are in essence saying to them that we don’t think they have the capacity to create their own fun.

When your kids observe your face buried in a book or working in your garden when you have free time, they are going to follow your example and do the same. However, if they see you turn on the T.V. or sit in front of the computer in every spare moment, they will do the same. It really is that simple.

10. To Live Your Life Instead of Watching Someone Else’s (Real or Fake One). Enough said.

What are some reasons you can come up with to give up T.V. or drastically reduce your screen time? I would love to hear from you! Let’s make the choice today to plug in to real life and turn off the television!

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The Purpose of Anger

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I have a confession to make: I never knew my own capacity for anger until I had children. Now don’t get me wrong – I know that we adults can be pretty difficult, too. But we have just learned (usually) that it isn’t socially acceptable to throw a temper tantrum when we don’t get our way or cry for an entire hour when we drop our ice cream cone on the floor.

Living with anyone will bring its challenges and living with lots of little people brings a myriad of relational issues and conflicts that are often accompanied by a strong emotion called anger.

I’ve learned as the primary caregiver for little people that my often even-keel personality can begin to simmer on a level of low-grade irritability that impacts everyone around me – especially my children.

When Anger Steals Our Joy

One night while I was lying in bed, ready to fall asleep, I thought to myself “This is not okay. I don’t want to be so easily irritated!”

I realized that when I harbored anger in my heart, my joy was being stolen and anger was keeping me from enjoying and fully embracing these precious little ones that God has entrusted to me to shepherd towards His heart.

I also recognized that while I cannot change myself, I need not feel helpless. God would never ask us to “Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, along with all malice” (Ephesians 4:31) if it were not possible through the power of His Spirit working within us.

One of my closest friends who also has small children suggested that we read a book together called “Good and Angry: Exchanging Frustration for Character in You and Your Kids.”

Um, yes please! I was won over by the title alone.

The Greater Purpose of Anger

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A great truth that I have learned while reading this book is quite simple: Anger is a flag to us that something is wrong and we need to do something about it. Anger doesn’t tell us what is wrong; we have to take time to identify the real issue behind our anger before we can do anything about it.

While anger is a good and useful emotion to identify when something is wrong, it is not helpful for solving problems. This is biblical: “Know this, my beloved brothers: let every person be quick to hear, slow to speak, slow to anger; for the anger of man does not produce the righteousness of God“ James 1:19-20.

I am learning that when I find myself irritated and smoldering within, I need to pause and ask myself some basic questions:

What is the real problem? Am I angry about something that is being internally stimulated (perhaps my own inward struggle with something) or outwardly stimulated (by one child hitting another or traffic when I am already late).

What is an appropriate response to the issue at hand? Speaking in a loud and harsh tone to my kids does not solve the problem of my children running and wrestling in the kitchen while I am trying to cook dinner. It only compounds the issue.

Perhaps an appropriate response would be to calmly explain that it is not safe for them to run in close proximity to a hot stove and give them clear direction as to where they can safely play, laying out straightforward consequences if there is a failure to comply.

5 Main Reasons for Our Anger

Scott Turansky and Joanne Miller, the authors of “Good and Angry,” identify 5 main causes of anger: Physical Pain, Blocked Goals, Violated Rights, Unfairness, Unmet Expectations.

Taking a few minutes to identify which of these is most often the cause of our anger can be the first step to identifying a healthy way to respond.

Do you often find yourself irritated or angry but are unsure how you can see change? God does not condemn you but offers you a way out through His grace and the power of His Holy Spirit.

He’s given us emotions as gifts that can bring glory to Him when they are used appropriately.

When and in what circumstances do you most often find yourself becoming angry? What are your triggers? What might be an appropriate response for those situations?

Here’s the bottom line: Anger can serve as a friend rather than an enemy when we allow it to signal a problem rather than solve it.

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What I Learned From a 30 Day Facebook Break

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It’s no surprise that studies have proven and continue to prove that people who limit time on social media are happier.

At the beginning of January, I decided that I was allowing too many extra minutes to get sucked up on Facebook and the internet in general.

I decided that I would take at least one month away from Facebook with one caveat – I would show up once a week just to post my blog.

My husband moved our main home computer to our basement (which is very cold this time of year) and this forced me to only use the computer when I had a clear and direct goal to accomplish.

How has this impacted my life? I’m so glad you asked 🙂

1. More Time – This is the most simple and obvious way that abstaining from social media has impacted my life positively.

I think many of us have a form of media (t.v., movies, gaming, internet) that can suck us in and before we know it, one or two hours have gone by and we think, “Where has the time gone and what do I have to show for it?!”

Saying no to Facebook and extra online time has given me more time to accomplish other goals and interests, which has in turn decreased my stress and simply made me feel more peaceful.

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2. Greater Contentment and Confidence – When you aren’t constantly hearing what 700 other people think it is simply refreshing. To be confident in your convictions and decisions (without checking in to see how many people “liked and commented” on your most recent thought) can produce great joy and peace.

Most of us tend to present our “best face” online – so social media isn’t usually an accurate gauge of someone’s reality. When we see pictures of people’s perfectly behaved children or amazing vacation, we may find ourselves filled with discontent over our own lives rather than reminding ourselves that we are seeing someone’s highlights – not their day-to-day reality.

3. Greater Thought Space – Media has a tendency to swirl around in our brain even when we set it aside. When we engage with videos, images, articles, or online discussions, these interactions can continue to impact our thought life hours later – for better or for worse.

On the flip side, when we allow our thought lives to be primarily influenced by our daily reality and by the real needs and interests of those around us, we may find ourselves being more mentally aware and engaged.

I have personally found that instead of pondering some random comment or status update, I’ve been thinking more about people in my daily life and the situations they are facing. Cutting out extra online time was like cutting all the spam from my email inbox.

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4. More “Face Time” – The less time we spend attached to media, the more time we have to invest in face to face relationships with our neighbors, co-workers, and most importantly, God and our family. These “flesh and bone” people are the ones we should invest the best and bulk of our time with.

5. Greater Engagement in the Present – when you are connected to your phone, checking the latest game scores or facebook updates, you miss what is going on around you in real life.

Even simple things like putting my phone in my pocket while I am in the grocery checkout line and choosing to have a conversation with my cashier rather than texting shows to that individual that I notice them and I want to engage.

This fabulous commercial sums it up 🙂

So – am I coming back? Yes and No. And more no than yes. Yes, I am thankful for Facebook because it is a tool that has allowed me to connect with long distance friends and keep in touch. However, when I do come back, I plan to limit my exposure in order to make more thoughtful social media exchanges rather than mindlessly scrolling through status updates.

How about you? Could you use a respite from Facebook or another form of media? I can tell you from experience – if you take a “time out” you simply won’t regret it!

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