The Meditation Project

This week is “National Turn Off Your TV Week”. For many of us, it is hard to imagine doing this. My first thought when I heard about this yesterday was, “But it’s the Project Runway finale show this week!”. I do enjoy a good TV show but it sometimes gets in the way of positive things in life.

Back in November, I decided to quit TV for a while because I had fallen into the habit of watching 2 hours or sometimes more a night. Instead, I read novels (which I love), got to bed earlier, spent more time talking to my husband, and got a few more things done at night than is typical. I enjoyed the change immensely because I was more rested, more productive and more connected in relationships and therefore less stressed.

Lately I have fallen back into nighttime TV watching. It happens when I am tired enough that I can’t imagine doing anything else but lie on the couch but I don’t want to go to bed yet. So I watch one show, then another good one is coming on and I still don’t want to get up... It becomes a cycle of being tired because I stayed up watching TV!

This cycle is counter-productive to a morning meditation practice. So, I will try to resist the urge to escape to TV tonight and instead get some sleep. I miss both the rest that I need from sleep and the rest that I receive from starting the day being quiet with God. I was reminded at the recent Edmunds Lecture at our church of Dietrich Bonhoeffer’s quote, “Our hearts are restless until we find rest in thee.” While I certainly don’t think TV is all bad, I do want to keep it in better perspective. It is just entertainment after all and it does not offer the true rest that I seek.