The Struggle of My TV Addiction

Okay, I need to be honest right now and talk about one of the greatest struggles of our RV lives. No TV!! Haha… While, this isn’t really a serious and detrimental struggle, it has definitely revealed how much of an addiction to TV I have had in my life.

I crave it.

I think about it at random times.

I want to use it to numb my feelings.

These all sound like symptoms of someone with an addiction. Even though watching TV doesn’t produce serious physical consequences, the fact that these feelings have risen up with the absence of this mind-numbing entertainment concerns me.

I grew up on a dairy farm in the middle of Minnesota. We had acres and acres of land with trees and sunshine and the sound of animals everywhere; we didn’t have TV. Summers were warm and comforting. I remember lying in our massive yard on the soft, green grass and looking up at the sky through the green leaves of the trees. I would lie there for what seemed like hours, just me and my thoughts and the sound of nature and Jesus.  

Then, I grew up. I entered into adulthood and learned that adulting can be hard. That’s when I found TV. I learned that TV shut off real life and welcomed me into a place where I didn’t have to think.

As adults, we often take on the tasks and responsibilities we were never meant to hold. It can be exhausting. So, we coddle our tired minds and hearts with the anesthetic of TV. We find ourselves so tired as we move through the day that we can only think about sitting and vegging out on the couch at the end of it all… at least that was me.

I’ve known that my emotions were never uplifted after a good long veg sesh. I actually would come away feeling cranky and guilty for wasting my precious life. I would resolve that it was the last time, and I would be more productive and more intentional the next day. However, I rarely followed through on yesterday’s promises.

Now, we have been called away from the life we were living and we have been  brought back into the quietness and peace of God. It’s as if we have come away from the busyness of life and been sequestered through our limited access to the land of free WiFi. Therefore, the band-aid of mindless entertainment has been ripped off in one aggressive motion and has left me raw and red and exposed.

I think that I am needing to relearn the art of quiet. I need to relearn the art of resting in the stillness of the day with only my thoughts and my God in my mind. While I have four children and I am not actually able to lie down in the grass undisturbed for very long, my mind and my heart are learning to be at rest. I have been inviting God once again into every area of my life, including the daydreaming and delightful thoughts of my day.

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