Life Without Netflix (or really any tv or movies)
Everything in this picture is crooked... But I am posting it anyway.
It wasn't the easiest challenge, but we made it through an entire month without the TV.
After not drinking anything other than water for the month of December, I was looking forward to something new to try for the month of January. So when the "no tv or movies" challenge was chosen, I was pumped. And I'll be honest, I started January's challenge off in a very prideful way. I figured I would do great, leaving the month refreshed, encouraged, and engaged with life.
And truth be told, the tv being off for the first few days was refreshing, I enjoyed the silence and I thought it was interesting to see what we did without it. But there were things that I disliked about it as well and I did not think I would miss it as much as I did!
What I liked:
- The no-tv challenge created more opportunities for quality time with friends. This was cool because when we hung out with our people, we had to do something other than turn on the tv and veg out. This resulted in playing more games and thus resulted in more conversations and discussions about life.
- It increased our awareness around watching TV and I realized how much time we were spending in front of the tube (because we are so quick to just turn it on at night) we have already had a couple conversations about what we want our tv watching to look like in the future.
- When I returned to watching TV I made a commitment to watch it without my phone or anything else distracting me. Gone are the days of endless scrolling while half-watching a rando show. Even if it is a silly 25 minute show, I want to give it my full attention. This allows me to practice the power of being PRESENT in all situations.
What I disliked:
- I missed being able to cuddle up and watch a show or a movie with Kyle. We both love stories and have often connected over characters or content on the screen so I definitely missed being able to do that with him.
- Sometimes your girl just needs to check out from this planet and become enthralled in new story, this challenge prevented that from happening (obviously).
What I learned:
Listen, enjoying television is totally fine. Much like eating carbs and enjoying sweets, a little bit sprinkled here and there is very enjoyable. However, my tendency to enjoy too much of a good thing was made clear to me yet again. TV is one of those time wasters that can quickly turn into a black hole where the next episode just automatically keeps playing and playing. This is also known as binge watching (insert shocked emoji face)...
Yes my friends, I too have struggled with the overwhelming desire to learn what happens in the next episode. However, this 30 day reset of no television helped me: enjoy time with friends, learn more about my triggers that cause me to want to soothe myself with stimuli like social media and TV, and it made me realize that I should be more present when I am watching a show with Kyle.
These 30 Day Challenges have been great for us. Sometimes we follow them perfectly and other times (most of the time) we fail our way through the month.