Seven Days

  I know it has been a while, but there is a reason. I recently decided to fast TV and internet for a week. I went Sunday to Sunday. Please know that I usually don't talk about when I fast, but I feel that what I learned from this is important enough to share.
  I have always been a TV lover, but recently it has been a little ridiculous. I would have it on all day, not necessarily sitting and watching but listening as I would walk by. I guess I was afraid I would miss something. Whenever there wasn't anything on TV I would be on the internet. "Doing what", you ask? Nothing! Check my email, go on Facebook, look at Etsy... Nothing important.
  So, I felt like I needed to give them up for a little while and experience life without them. My first few days without TV and Internet were good, I didn't really miss it and I felt really productive. The last few days I really wanted to just sit and watch something while Ava was asleep, just rest. The internet is really hard to exist without. I didn't realize how often I used it for informative reasons, but I adapted and was ok without it. Through out the week I felt more productive, had better family time, cooked more, had better time with the Lord, and I was overall just more joyful.
  So my seven days were up and I sat down to watch some TV. Then, I began to panic. Literally. I felt terrible! I thought I was going to have a panic attack or something. My heart was racing, I felt nauseas and I felt icky in my spirit. Weird! I turned it off after a few minutes and told Daniel. I think over time I built up small layers around my spirit while watching TV. I ultimately became de-sensitized to what they were showing me. After fasting it for 7 days all of those layers came down and I was completely overwhelmed by it! Wow. I definitely didn't see that coming!
  So I instead decided to check my email and catch up on FB. After a few minutes of doing that I began to feel icky inside again. I was realizing that I was basing my relationships with people of "Liking" their photo, or one sentence comments to their wall. Not very personal at all. I realized that I justified that as "Quality time" with the most important people in my life.
  Overall, I am realizing that TV just lets bad things into my spirit, that effect me more than I know. As for Internet, it is a great resource for life but not the way I should be investing into my relationships.