By the time this gets through publishing, it'll be too late for me. Lent will have begun over a week ago, and I will have not streamed any movies, TV or YouTube videos in that amount of time. What will I be doing with my life? Only the future will tell.
I first gave up streaming for Lent last year, and I documented my experience here. Because of that, I haven't been watching nearly as much TV in the past year, which is a great thing. Also because of that, I was never going to give it up completely again.
So what changed?
It all started with me reading through last year's article. I mentioned that once I stopped watching Netflix, I started remembering my dreams. I regained the creativity I thought I'd lost with age and I started to work toward my future. I got internships, I found an apartment, I made music again. I'm not going to claim that giving up Netflix was the only reason any of these great things happened, but I am going to claim it helped.
Perhaps the most compelling part of that article (if it's ok to call something that I wrote compelling) is the final bolded point:
"Giving up Netflix makes me want to never watch anything ever again."
If getting rid of Netflix helped me that much, why did I go back?
This is the problem I see within myself and others — I go for the most convenient thing, and I don't know how to stop.
I could just as easily pick up the book I've been wanting to read for years, but pressing play and letting the screen do the work for me is much, much easier. I'm sick of that laziness that takes over the second I make the decision to play another episode of It's Always Sunny. The fact that I watch way less than last year doesn't justify the fact that I'm still watching.
So if you need something to give up for Lent or if you just want something to make your life more meaningful, join me on my journey. You'll be amazed at how much better your life is. You'll be so much more in tune with reality, you won't feel the need to spend all your time indoors and you'll realize that you've been missing out on an entire world.
Join me if you want to start remembering your dreams, spending more time focused on what matters and feeling better about yourself. It's a lot easier than you'd think to find another, better distraction, especially since books are pretty cheap and there are real people all around you.
I promise it's worth it and it will change your life for the better. So why not?