72 hours TV free

Big deal, right? Well I'm humbled and more than a little embarrassed to admit that I have a problem. A TV and computer problem. When I finish a task and my mind casts about for something to occupy my time my first instinct is usually to long onto the computer or grab the remote. I haven't even attempted to calculate the number of hours I've watched television the past few weeks. I don't dare. Suffice it to say it was way too much and I'm pretty sure the amount of time was only increasing. I listened to a speaker (I'm currently playing a series of his talks on CD in my car) and he suggested that too much TV/Movies/Video games put you in the same pot of water as a frog. I mean I never woke up and thought to myself...'Gee, what a lovely new day, I think I'll just go watch an entire season of Dr. Who.' That would have been jumping into boiling water and I would have jumped right back out. Instead I would watch one show, then another, then just one more, and next thing I know I've got a headache and the day is gone. Turns out those poor frogs do the same thing. You put them in cold water and gradually increase the temperature and before Kermit knows what hit him he's frog soup.
Well the speaker read a quote by Gordon B. Hinckley that said something to the effect of turning off distractions and taking that time back would lead to marvelous results. Just imagine what you could do, he said. So I did.
I pictured quite clearly in my mind the myriad of to do lists full of things still undone scattered about my home. I recalled how restless and discouraged I've been when I looked around at all that needed to be done and all I wanted to do and realized I was never ever ever going to have time to do it. There just didn't seem to be enough hours in the day. Well I'll tell you that the first day of no TV saw me complete, for the first time in ages, my daily to do list and then some. I actually went to sleep when I should and I woke up the next morning feeling lighter, happier, and, well, excited.
I have to say there was some surprise there. I thought it would be hard. I thought I would start sweating. Get paranoid. You know, serious jonesing. I didn't. I simply woke up and realized that all those things I'd wanted to do and had all but given up on were not only in my reach they were on my to do list. Maybe this is a no brainer but maybe someone feels kinda like me? It doesn't have to be the same media but don't we all find time wasters?
Well I'm so cheery its ridiculous and I'm on day 3 of no TV and I can't believe all I've accomplished. I made popsicles today. (I LOVE Tupperware) There was no fancy plan. I finished my to do list and just thought: 'hmmm, what should I do now?' And guess what. Turning on the tube didn't even occur to me! So I made some freakin' awesome popsicles. Never made 'em before but I had the mold and the time and a desire to experiment. You know what else? I'm learning how to play the piano, and brushing up on my Spanish, and I put together a cookbook of my favorite recipes I've been wanting to compile for like a year now. Holy cow.
Does it sound like I'm on speed? I promise this is a totally natural high...though we did pick more blueberries today and I did have to taste test quite a lot of them...
Bottom line is: I'm so pumped that I've got all this time to do the things I've always wanted to do that I'm not even interested in being bummed that I used to waste time on worthless stuff. I don't have to imagine what I could do. I'm doing it. Oh, and you know what else this speaker mentioned? Apparently some university somewhere did some study (yeah my factual recall is mind blowing) that found your metabolism actually slows down when you watch TV. Not to mention other studies that have shown that we tend to eat more when we do so while watching television. So the past 3 days my horrible eating habits have drastically changed. I don't snack all day. I take time to make healthier food and as a result we've had some delish dinners if I do say so myself. And the last thing I'm going to barrage you with is just this, why watch someone else living the life of their dreams when you could go live your own dream?
I'm not saying I'm not going to watch some key matches of the world cup or that I'll never have a Pride and Prejudice marathon again. I'm just surprised at how duped I was. I was completely clueless that the funk I was in stemmed from me wasting vast amounts of time that I actually thought didn't exist. 
Something to ponder. For now I'm off to share one of those popsicles with my little man and do something exciting, whatever we want, away from media devices.