I was having a conversation with my dad, and he noticed I was reading a book about energy and he equated it with stress. He said, "You know the best way to relieve stress?  Turn off the TV."

Well, you heard it here. Wisdom straight from Dad.

Finally we agree on something! :)

Back in 2001, pre 9/11, I had just had my second child, and was working part time on a project for my corporate employer. I had been really stressed out and burned out after multiple years of mergers and acquistions and job changes. I can see now that I was weaning myself off of the adrenaline addiction of the corporate merry-go-round by whittling my time and commitments down from a traveling, busy Vice President, to doing a project.

As I looked at what else was impacting my stress I realized the TV was having a huge impact in keeping me stressed out. So I took a TV sabbatical.  I admit it was hard at first. Then I was amazed at the results. 

What I realized was that having the TV on constantly was baraging me and my psyche with all these negative, hurry, hurry, messages.  Those media creative types are experts at presenting a program, commercial or news bulletin that plugs right into your greatest fears and worries..... I'm not good enough, clean enough for my kids health, safe enough from pollution, war, crime, gangs, and - throughout all this - my hair isn't shiny enough and my skin isn't young looking anymore!

I was just becoming a coach to support others and myself from beating ourselves up on the inside, and I realized that I was fighting the messages from the commercials and television shows on the outside. 

Making that decision to remove myself from TV was one of the single biggest factors in reducing my stress. Without the constant proliferation of negative/"less than messages" it was easier to shift my own "I am not doing good enough" thoughts to something more productive and self-supportive. 

Of course, then there was 9/11. I remember having the TV on all day and then my coach reminded me that I have a choice.  I can leave the TV on all day 24/7 or I can choose to flip it on and check in. I remember knowing that I was in charge of the clicker was a positive thing and yet I felt guilty or somehow not patriotic enough if I wasn't subjecting myself to the constant stream of images and emotions.  I had enough emotions to deal with myself. I realized that I couldn't go through my grieving cycle glued to the TV. I decided to exercise choice over my clicker!

Another big shift came about a month later.  You may recall, Daniel Pearlman, who was a reporter in capitivity and was possibly going to be beheaded. One morning as I turned on my computer, I sat there waiting for it to boot up and realized how tense my body was.  I realized that my home page was set for CNN.com and that I knew the face (yes, his head, uh) was going to be on my screen again.  I was tense, anxious and even had difficulty breathing.  This was not good for my body, my psyche, my confidence, or my hopes that I was nurturing for the world.

So, I changed my home page to something neutral like Google. Taking control of my home page was taking control of what I feed my body, mind and spirit!

I will admit for a while I was the last person in Atlanta to know which tropical storms were coming through the area - when I noticed everyone suddenly stocking up on bottled water and batteries and I left wondering what was happening!   So I started watching the local weather station in the morning.

When I eventually felt weaned off the adrenaline of feeding my anxiety every moment (and this took about 4 years believe it or not!!) I started to watch the news periodically. A talk show here and there.  I'll check in with CNN.com to make sure the world is still going on around me.  The difference is I get to choose. I get to say when, I get to say where, and I get to say "how much". (Thank you Julia Roberts in Pretty Woman for those words!)

I am reminded that I am the CEO of my life. And, I have a clicker and I'm not afraid to use it!

How is your anxiety level these days?

What is one step you can take to lessen your anxiety?

Some ideas:

Go for a short walk.

Turn off the TV for 1 night.

Take a week sabbatical from the news and see if you miss anything.

Change your home page.

Choose to sit in a different spot in a restaurant where your kids can't see CNN on the big screen TV and watch tanks going by during dinner. (This may be more challenging than you think!)

It's your choice.

Heart-fully and Hope-fully,

Laura

Comments

[Dawn Goldberg]

I don't watch t.v. on a regular basis except for a couple of shows (I'll admit to Desperate Housewives and The Office), and I never watch the news. My home page is set to my online calendar - fairly innocuous!

My husband has gotten in the habit of calling me to give me important news (the bombing of the subway in London, etc.) because he knows I don't watch the news, read the newspaper, or listen to the radio (iTunes rules!).

While I may seem uninformed, I like that I'm removing negative energy and messages (even commercials can be filled with fear) from my life.

Thanks for giving us some really great examples to continue working on the positive!

Dawn

[Bernadette DiMauro]

My name is Bernadette and I'm addicted to tv... or at least I used to be! It was on all the time and I planned events around certain show schedules and the new fall season. But now, I too, am one who has completely turned it off over the past few years. Like Laura and the other comments, I have google on my home page and my folks (who watch a lot of CNN) will call me with the significant world news.

At first I was afraid I wouldn't feel as connected or in-touch--but I think I got more connected and in-touch with the things that matter. I still enjoy the occasional 'trash' magazine from the grocery store (justifying it as a form of relaxing!) and did catch a few episodes of Grey's Anatomy... but it's amazing how little I miss it. And I sleep better. No more images of kids being abducted, planes crashing, etc.

Best of all--- while I had always been careful with what my kids were watching--they watch less too. One day, my husband came home from work and our entire dining room had been taken over with blankets, pillows, lumber (with people drawn on them) and more....he looked around, somewhat knowingly, and said, 'So what do we call this??" I said, 'we call this--NO TV!"

[Beverly]

Hey Laura, Great article! We watch DVD's but no TV. My husband and I both agreed before we got married that we would be a 'no tv' household. When I check into a hotel, I find myself thrilled to be in front of a television set but the high wears off quickly. I remember that there is not much on TV that I care to watch and I have low tolerance for commercials. I agree that TV is a huge creator of negative vibes. I do check CNN.com for news. Now, I'm wondering if I should taper off of that too. I'm glad you are blogging again! I've missed reading your posts. Love, Beverly

[rw nicholson]

I bet ya'll all watch TV. Self rightousness is a sad thing.