If you didn’t read my post yesterday, then
please stop now and read it.
No, seriously. Read it before this one.
Now that you have background to what I’m
talking about, continue reading…
Putting all silliness aside, I really
debated, for about a week now, if I was actually going to post what I did
yesterday. I’ve come to realize that my writing is the most honest expression
of me and sometimes it reveals more of me than I want it to. Yesterday’s post
was one of those instances.
I finally decided to post it because I’ve
come to realize that I am really struggling with an addiction to TV. It all
started out with a desire to decompress from my busy schedule, but in a way
that didn’t require any thought. I would get the stories I love (by that, I mean
that I love stories and taking the
adventure through each one), but I wouldn’t have to use any mental energy. Then
the addiction crept in.
I don’t mean this to sound sinister or
like TV is ruining my life, but it’s gotten to the point where I would spend
hours watching TV and even skipping small homework assignments or just putting
them off to the point where they don’t have the time to be more than junk.
Watching TV fueled my procrastination even
more, which just let to even greater amounts of stress. That stress would lead
to crippling guilt that I wasn’t doing what I was supposed to. That guilt would
lead to more TV as an escape, which would only make matters even worse.
This addiction isn’t the all-consuming
kind, but if I don’t get away from TV or moderate how much time I am spending
watching it, then I feel myself prioritizing it. When a behavior starts
becoming a priority when it shouldn’t and when it is affecting your ability to
keep up with responsibilities, then it’s borderline addiction that should be
stopped.
So, I finally decided to write these two
posts because I think there is a big problem today with binge watching TV.
Everywhere in college, there are jokes going around about how, “Netflix killed
my GPA.” Or, how students are watching TV verses doing homework or going to
class. We all joke about it because everybody is binge watching something.
I can’t be the only one going through
something like this, not when the college culture is so saturated with these
jokes or comments.
I wish our culture didn’t push so hard for
entertainment, especially movies and TV, to be as much of a priority as it
does. This just reminds me of one thing that the speaker at Winter Camp said, “You
can’t combat 20 hours of TV with a 30 minute sermon.”
With watching so much TV, I just fill my
mind with more and more that isn’t good for me. I’m so saturated in the worldly
culture that is presented for me in all those very entertaining shows, but I
never stop to think what it is doing to me.
Taking it a step further, what’s it say
when I’m addicted to it?
The worst thing about being addicted to a
substance that is non-lethal and safe is that it’s socially acceptable to do
it. Some people might think I’m crazy for talking about an addiction to TV,
especially when most of the US has some quantity of this addiction.
I’m really not saying TV is this terrible
thing. I love it and that’s why I sometimes can’t stop myself from falling into
the binge-watch cycle. I definitely don’t want to quit watching TV completely
and I honestly probably still will watch it to a degree, but I’m starting to
monitor how much I am consuming.
All in all, I just think we need to be conscious
of those seemingly harmless things in our lives that turn into big seething
monsters when we aren’t looking. We need to not let anything consume us or take
control of our minds (except God).
With this post, all I ask is that you take
a look at your life and try to see if you have anything that is consuming you
when it shouldn’t be. Make changes. Take baby steps. Work through it, even if
you don’t originally recognize it as a problem.
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