Time For TV?
I have always been a TV junkie, and by always I mean since I was a wee tot. So gather around kiddies and I'll tell you about the time we bought our first color television, changed channels using needle nose pliers when the knob was broken, and couldn't afford to by movies on video tape because the cheap ones cost eighty bucks!No, I won't bore you by telling tales of the olden days (the 70's), but I would like you to think about something I realized last Dec while watching the 300th episode of the medical drama ER, (which airs Thursdays on NBC).
My wife and I were almost two years married when ER first aired in September of 1994. Since then we have watched every episode that followed. That means if you don't count re-runs and commercials, we have watched at least 300 hours of ER.
This number almost made my heart stop beating... Call the ER!
300 hours divided by the 24 hours in a day means that if I could watch ER without sleeping, I would have watched it for 12 days straight!
Since watching TV for 12 days without sleeping is impossible (I think ... maybe something I should try!), let's break that up into eight hour work days. If my job were to watch ER, I would have watched for more than 37 days! Over a month of my life spent watching ER.
That might not be so bad, but ER is not the only show I watch!
I started noticing that really successful people I know rarely are aware of what is on TV. Maybe because they don't watch it. They don't know who Jim and Pam are and when I talk about The Hills, they look out a window. These are the people who refer to American Idol as that Talent Search show. They may sound ignorant of what is on TV, but these are people I really admire for their accomplishments in life. I started asking questions and found most spend the majority of time doing productive activities with their family and using their talents.
So I ask ...
Am I wasting too much of my life in front of the tube? Are you?
These passages come to mind:I can't get that month of watching ER back, but moving forward I'm determined to watch less TV. ( this will be hard since I have 3 DVR's which have not saved time but simply made it possible for me to watch MORE TV!). I won't give up TV completely (my wife and I have enjoyed our 13 year date with ER every Thursday), but I'll be more mindful of my time.
Proverbs 12:24
Diligent hands will rule, but laziness ends in slave labor.
Ecclesiastes 10:18
If a man is lazy, the rafters sag; if his hands are idle, the house leaks.
Mark
PS. I really didn't plan this, but my two new books came out and are somewhat related to this post. Wisdom On...Time and Money, and Wisdom on... Music,Moves & Television, get them today!
Posted by MarkM on at
3:29 PM
6 Comments:
productivity is success. No matter what it is we might be doing. With that said, I'm a procrastinator. I've recently gotten better though, not waiting always till the last minute, but usually a day before :)
I know what i ought to be doing but yet i don't do it. I've honestly come to believe that if i really want to accomplish something i'll do it!! If i was so determined to lose 10lbs, I probably could in 2 weeks if i was dedicated. In the same way, the time i spend watching reality tv, probably makes my time in prayer and bible study seem very pathetic, which i think it is. I guess what I'm trying to say is if i want to be successful in anything, including my Christian walk, i will. and since God can grant me the desires of my heart, I'm pretty sure that's an attainable goal, it all depends on me (James 4:8).
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At the American average of 4 hrs each day that's 28 hours each week...more than a part time job! If you did the average between from the age of 3 to 73 you would have spent all of your waking hours (16 hrs a day)watching TV for over SEVENTEEN YEARS!
I feel a lot of people spend way too much time not being productive, whether it's wasted on TV or on the computer or with games or whatever. But that's not to say that games and tv and internet are not productive ways to spend your time. Just like with everything else, do it in moderation. As for myself, I watch very little TV, and since I've been married, I do a lot less on the computer. I find my life far more exciting when things are getting done. When you spend time watching TV with a loved one, who's to say that's not productive? Just be careful you're not spending more time with the TV than with the loved one you are watching it with.
But, think about who you are Mark. You deal with kids and youth and other individuals who have lots of time to spend on unproductive activities. Maybe God has you involved in so much entertainment so you can still relate to kids who like to talk about who they saw on what shows or movies and how it was and how that game was played and etc. It's a good way to reach into the hearts of others. You have to start on the outside to work your way in.
Whatever you do, make sure it's in God's plan, of course. Ask Him for guidance as far as what you should be doing with your time. Every piece of your time should be productive, but who are we to say whether the time you spend watching TV is not productive?
i have tyo say i watch too much tv and spend way to much time on the computer. i am addicted to it.being homeschooled with only 3 hours of school a day, i at least watch 4 hours of tv. crazy?! i know. we should be doing more productive things and not watch tv.
-craz_gal
ps. i loved your demonstrationat mark matlock conference!!!
now that i think about it, i have seen ever episode of ER about 4574678 times each, thats a lotttt of tv!
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