In my pursuit of completion of the countless tasks and things to do, I have decided I need to get rid distractions. This means, the television. I think about to myself upon contemplation, do I want to live my life vicariously through the "lives" of characters on television, or do I want to live my life through myself? Television can serve as a distraction and an escape from the many things I've set out for myself to complete. This has also seriously sidetracked me from my focus of things I wanted to do this summer. The feeling of the beginning of summer has faded and I need to get down to business, towards my goals that I listed out here in a previous post, or it's going to be another semi-wasted summer. Sure I'm taking an intensive 9 week EMT course that's starting this upcoming Monday. But that's not the only thing I expect of myself. Along with waking up early, productivity and time management is crucial. I will be documenting my progress of this goal here, listing if I watched television that day, and if I did, how long, and what it is I watched. Now as I type this, the thought of the NBA playoffs come into mind. Should I watch those? I enjoy watching them for the most part. How much do I really get out of watching these games? If they serve a positive purpose in my life, it should stay. I give myself permission to watch the 4th quarter of the game, if it's close. The excitement of the anticipation prior to the jump is enticing and I cannot promise that I won't watch, but I should not be watching to the second quarter. I need to see how this will go. If necessary, I need to completely remove this temptation from my life, as its benefit to me is less than if I use the time to do something more productive. I define watching television as indulging in a show that is lacking in its value to my future benefit.
My most enticing nemesis to this goal would be the activity done during relaxation. Stretching, exercising, looking outside, or engaging in something that does not drive my mind into a mindless stupor are all alternatives. This does mean I cannot watch something that I find inspirational, like a nature, educational, or science documentary. The purpose to rid off "television" is to rid myself of the hypnotic, time-warping distraction that at the end of the day, serves zero benefit to myself. If it serves to be a positive purpose in my life, it can stay.
I just took the first step after coming back from picking up my sister, by not even turning on the television to the show of Two and a Half Men, thus not giving that temptation its power in the first place. I just need to replace this time with something constructive that will benefit me. Replace this distraction with something more empowering in my life.
Just remember anytime you find yourself anticipating the thought of heading towards temptation, ask yourself, "Is what I am going to be doing going to benefit me?" And if the answer is "No", don't let yourself fall into temptation in the first place.
Tomorrow is the official Day 1 of ridding this distraction in my life.
UPDATE:
Today after posting this, I watched part of a Nature Documentary on PBS followed by a Frontline Documentary called "Outlawed in Pakistan". The girl featured is living one tough, painful life. I can empathize with her and couldn't help but feel bad for her. It's popped the thought of educating myself on the injustices women in third-world countries face. Perhaps that day will come and will be part of my goal of understanding the lives others and doing what I can to help them.
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