The Nielsen Company reported that the average American watches nearly 159 hours of television every month or 5 1/4 hours per day. I used to enjoy “vegging” out in front of the TV at night after dinner. I rationalized it as needed “down time” after a long day of work. A therapist friend suggested that sleep is when we get our needed down time and that we shouldn’t waste our waking hours by vegging out in front of the TV. And we certainly shouldn’t be filling our mind with degrading, negative, or violent content.
Since he told me that, I’ve been much more purposeful and selective in my television watching habits and I’m proud to say that my daily TV time is well under the American average.
What could you be doing, instead of watching TV, that would enhance your spiritual, emotional, or physical well being? Wouldn’t that be better than being a couch potato and watching Jersey Shore, Project Runway, or True Blood? OK, maybe not but how about cutting your time on the tube in half?
Your mind will thank you.