Reasons for not watching TV
As a TV kid, I could not imagine life without TV.
However, in the bottom of my heart, I had thought before, ”Every day , I am spending so many hours watching TV, so I didn’t have time to do anything else. I always regret wasting my time for watching TV.”
If you decide in advance which programs you will watch and turn off the TV as soon as the program is over, there is no problem.
It is the worst case that you end up watching it endlessly when you are not going to watch it.
Even though I was planning to study after watching the program, when the preview of the next program came on, I had urge to watch it.
Gradually, I began to think.
“What would happen if I lived without TV?”
At this time, I had two concerns.
“I’m afraid I won’t be able to keep up with what everyone else is saying.”
“I feel cut off from the world around me. I wonder if I’ll be okay.”
Then I told myself.
”If I stop watching TV for a while and find it inconvenient, I can start watching TV again and catch up with what everyone else is saying and what’s going on in the world…”
That is how I’ve finally decided to get rid of the TV.
Living without TV was an unknown experience for me.
Well, what will happen now?
At the same time, I felt a little excitement, like a new adventure.
Then, several years passed.
Advantages of living without TV
Here are the benefits.
- I can saved a lot of time！ (That is only natural. That is because I was watching TV for many hours in a day.)
- Conversation during meals has increased (we now talk about things that happened during the day and what we felt. Up until then, we were just silently absorbed in watching TV or talking about the programs that were playing)
- I am no longer driven by an unnecessary desire to consume, and have greatly reduced my spending (I believe this is the effect of no longer watching gourmet food programs, TV shopping, and new product commercials).
- I no longer watch morning news programs and don’t feel negative in the morning (I now watch the news online in the evening)
- Now I can move at my own timing, not at the TV’s timing (Up until then, I couldn’t take the next action until it reach a commercial or reach a good stopping point.)
- I am using the time that was for watching TV on my relaxing now, for example: doing yoga, reading, going for a walk or a stroll, into meditating. (Before that, when I was at home, my routine was to turn on the TV and I had just killing time, watching some kind of program)
- I have more time to spend on housework. (Finally, my room has been cleaned up. Ahhh how refreshing! It’s the most pleasant benefit♪)
In addition, instead of less “passive input” from TV, “active input” from reading has increased, and I use my imagination more frequently.
I have come to imagine the “background” of things more often and have a stronger sense of appreciation for them.
Because of the developed imagination, I have become able to see things from a higher perspective.
By looking at myself from a bird’s-eye, I have become able to think objectively and control my emotions.
Disadvantages of living without TV
Of course, there are disadvantages to living without a TV.
- It’s too quiet for me to relax. (I usually play the music in the background instead of the TV sound.)
- I can no longer keep up with the latest trends.( I have come to expresses my individuality.)
- Nowadays, In most cases, I don’t know who the celebrities on billboards are.
Nevertheless, I no longer want to watch TV.
I fully realized from my experience that the advantages outweigh the disadvantages.
In a word, I’ve come to sense the happiness I have now.
Cherish the happiness that we already have
It’s the little things in life that really matter.
By getting rid of the TV, the resolution of my daily life has increased. And important things became visible.
For example,
- The beauty of nature close at hand.
- The importance of casual and trivial conversation.
- The profundity of the book when you read it carefully.
- The joy that music gives us.
- The deliciousness of food that can be felt with all five of my senses.
I started to feel happiness that I already have now.
I have come to actively savor these things in my own way.
As more and more information comes in, we are swayed by a large amount of information.
Therefore, I try to decide what to watch beforehand on Hulu, Netflix, or Prime Video when there is a movie, anime, or drama that I really want to watch,
In this day and age, I feel it is important to choose and input information with my own will.
Let’s appreciate life fully with through sense of hearing, sight, smell, taste and touch.