It's almost halftime as I type, and it's been a good Super Bowl for a Falcons fan. As I was watching I thought about how we ditched cable a number of years ago. It happened not long after we bounced those two checks and knew we had to do things differently. For a while, we kept the most basic of basic cable. It was channels 2-14 I think, which at the time was the local channels, PBS (PBS Kids!), Windstream Channel 4, and I think Peachtree channel (there were some Braves games on that channel). But after a while we realized there was no point in even hanging on to that!
Translate that to mean that I got to watch very few sporting events. Also, Jen could no longer watch America's Next Top Model and Project Runway. Those who know me know how much I have enjoyed sports throughout my life. Frankly, I thought it would be pretty tough to endure not getting to sit on the couch and ignore my family and do nothing for 2-3 hours at a time. Turns out it's not so bad!
Granted, things have changed in the home entertainment landscape over the last several years. Things like Netflix and Hulu have turned the television market upside down. So we now watch Netflix or watch some of our favorite shows on our Roku TV with the national channel apps. And a lot of times games like the Super Bowl are streamed online, so we can watch it for free. (Full disclosure here, I borrow someone's cable subscription login so that I can watch games on WatchESPN occasionally. But you can also get Sling TV and some other options for relatively cheap.)
I know a lot of you reading this probably have also ditched cable or satellite. It's not so bad, is it? For you guys (or even gals) who are considering cutting cable or ditching the dish and think you can't live without sports or live television, I promise, your life will not come to an end if you don't get to watch your team at home 12 Saturdays a month. The world will still turn on its axis. Now, if you live in our geographic area, yes, the quality of any broadcast is beholden to Windstream. Even tonight watching the Super Bowl, several times we have been greeted with...
(It is so ironic that as I went to insert that photo from Google Photos, a message popped on my screen reading, "There is no internet connection." I'm not kidding! You can't make this stuff up! Thanks Obama! We had to unplug and plug back in the modem to get the internet to rejoin us. We're gonna miss the Lady Gaga Pepsi Zero Sugar Halftime Show. Darn.)
So it can be frustrating when all you want to do is watch one video or one stream. Come on! But I suppose one thing it's good for is teaching us patience and remembering what things are not worth getting worked up over.
Here's the problem, and I touched on it in a previous post. We have to be careful that our TV watching has not been replaced by time with our faces in our phones, or tablets, or computers. We need to make sure we replace it with time on things that matter. Right now, Jen is sitting on the couch reading a book, I think that's a baker's dozen for the year. That's a good way to spend time. I'm still working on my progress in this area (I have read one book though). I need to be more "present where my feet are." That's a quote my friend Jacob shared with me. It makes good sense, Yes we are saving money, but I hope we're saving some of our lives too.
What kind of screen are you reading this on? If the Google Analytics stats are correct, at least 8 out of 10 of you are reading on a cell phone. (Also, if Google Analytics is accurate the average time spent reading the blog per visit is about 1 minute and 22 seconds. Either you all are really fast readers or you're not spending much time here! I'm going to swallow my pride and keep writing.) Before you keep reading, scroll down to the bottom and type a comment with what device you are reading this on (smartphone, computer, tablet, etc.).
I read this blog by Seth Godin yesterday. I'd encourage you to read it as well. I'll wait here while you do. It will take about 1 minute and 22 seconds to read it. In case you didn't read it, I'll summarize. Basically we are addicted to our phones, like a fix, a hit, a high. We are being controlled by these little devices in our pocket. Like Pavlov's dogs, we hear a bell and we respond. Don't we? I usually do.
I got a smartwatch no long ago, and I'm not sure if it's better or worse now. I get notifications right on my wrist. I might look at my phone a little less frequently if we are counting the number of views, but I doubt I look at it less if we're measuring time. My wife likes to remind me about that.
If you read our jointly written blog yesterday, you will remember that one of the topics was spending time together. But, we didn't talk about the quality of the time spent together. If my nose is buried in the phone checking Facebook or Instagram or Google Now or Twitter or... or... or... my actions are belying my words. I may say that time together is important, but I need to make sure I turn the phone off, or get it away from me, or whatever.
Now I know some of you out there will say, "Well, I don't have a Facebook account" or "I don't have the Facebook app on my phone." Well, what do you have? You might have Pinterest. You might have the ESPN app. You might have Netflix, or YouTube, or... or... or... Most of us are guilty of this to some extent. That's one reason you see folks saying they are going on a social media "fast" or that they're "taking a break from Facebook" for a while.
I'm so guilty of this that I put a note on my phone to remind me not to let it consume me. You know how you can put apps together in a folder on your phone? Well, I have one for social media apps. I long ago changed the name of the folder to "Don't Waste Your Life." See...
I'm not sure why we're addicted. We use it to keep up with other people, usually so we can compare lives to those of others. That's not a winning proposition. We use it to keep up with news. Isn't it a lot of fun reading about politics and protests and celebrities? We use it to kill time, hours of our lives at a time. We do use it for good as well, to encourage others, to keep up with family and friends for the right reasons, to let others share in our blessings. Let's do more of that.
I don't really have much advice here, because frankly I'm not in any position to give it. The blog post I referenced earlier about Pavlov reminded me that I need to spend time on things that matter (like writing for you!). I purpose to spend more real time with my kids and my wife, to look at people when they're talking to me, to leave the phone in another room sometimes. And I also am determined to call people more to talk. There are so many friends of mine from years ago that I need to talk to, and not via Facebook Messenger or SMS. I'm going to call them. So if you're a friend and you haven't talked to me in a while, send me your number
For everyone else reading, here's my only advice. Don't waste your life.
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