“What Would Happen if the TV Disappeared”

Everyday we sit and wait to see what the news will bring. Or we watch the TV incessantly to see who will win the primaries. But does this do any good? Could it be that all that power we use watching TV could be used for the betterment of mankind? What if we were to stop watching TV all together, what would happen?

Perhaps we would spend more time with our loved ones, and sit and talk and find common ground, and talk about our dreams, our fears, and most of all just listen. Because most people don’t want someone to fix everything, they just want to be heard.

Perhaps we would have more time to spend with our children, to sit with them, to play with them, to talk with them, to cuddle them and remind them that they are safe and we will take care of them. Children need reassurance, they need to know that their parents will be their for them no matter what happens.

And just maybe we would take the time to sit with our parents and talk to them about the past. Our parents have lots of wisdom to bestow upon us if we are willing to listen. But most of the time we are too busy to listen to their stories or talk to them about the good times and the bad. Talking to them about how they made it through life, and how they survived even when times were terrible, and how they made a life for themselves. And it just might be that if we connect with our parents we might learn something, something about ourselves that needs to be uncovered in order to bring peace to our heart.

Plus or grandparents if they are still alive will have lots of interesting stories and wisdom to share with us. But most of the time we never take the time to sit with them and talk to them about what they need and what they want to do. Let alone be willing to sit with them and talk about when they were young and take it all in.

Take for instance an older couple in their 80’s who had a younger couple move in next door. The young couple have two small girls and a baby boy. And when they moved in next door and started fixing up the house and making it nice the older couple started to talking to the parents and the little girls. Now those little girls call them grandpa and grandma, and they can’t wait to go see grandpa and grandma who enjoy and love those little girls. It’s as though 20 years has been taken off the age, because they feel more alive and needed than ever before when they are around those little girls. Plus there is a bond of love their which creates something very unique and special. And when that little boy gets a little older grandma and grandpa will also love him just as much. Plus it also makes it a little easier for the parents who have someone to turn to if something happens and they need help. And the parents also help the older couple now and then when they need help. And both the kids and the grandparents watch TV very little because they are always busy helping one another. 

And what about the neighbor next door, what if we didn’t have TV would we go over and talk to our neighbors and create community? Would we get out and connect and be willing to talk and care about people we don’t know in general. And would that start a new way of living, where we care about others just as much as we care for our own family and flesh and blood?

Then there are community groups who caring for the elderly, helping people at the blind center, the red cross, meals on wheels, and many other groups that need our attention. Would we use our time away from TV to get out and help others instead of sitting at home transfixed to that flat screen? Just perhaps we might get out and start helping those who are in need, helping those who are suffering, helping those who want our help… and who are in dire need of just a little bit of tender loving care.

All it takes is love, and enough love to shut off the TV and to get out of the house and start helping those who need our help. It can be done, and it is being done by in the new generation of young people who are trying to make a difference in the world now— not latter, not tomorrow, but right now.

For you see just turning off the TV is a God thing, it’s all about love.

Many Blessings to Everyone

Dr. Paul Haider