My husband and I cancelled our DISH network subscription 2 weeks ago and have already noticed some wonderful benefits, other than the financial savings of course. The first two days were hardest on my hubby, since he uses the TV to "fill time". He did watch some of the Rick Steves travel dvds I had bought him and enjoyed those, but as the days went on, he did not rely on the TV as much.
He and I began to reconnect more and actually were having dinner conversations instead of watching TV while we ate and I noticed that I was putting more effort into making our meals nicer. If there was a show we wanted to watch, I could pull it up on my computer and we would cuddle together on the couch while we watched. We worked on more projects together here at home and spent more time talking and enjoying each other's company.
One of the biggest benefits though has been a total surprise to me. I have anxiety issues and when something horrible happens in the world, the television stations play things over and over and bombard us with information and images, many of which are very disturbing. For someone like me who can't get those gruesome images out of their head and has nightmares as a result, this has been a huge problem for me. It just ramps my anxiety levels way up. With the horrific attacks in Belgium and all the nonsense being spouted and childish behavior of our political candidates, it has been a blessing for me to just be able to go online and see snippets of the news without being overwhelmed by it all. I can choose to read a news story or see a news video or not.
I have found that my anxiety levels have gone way down. I feel so much more peaceful and am not rattled as easily. In the past, there were things that would come on TV that would cause me to have a panic attack. Now I don't have to deal with that. Even though we may still have some stressful things going on in our lives, I think that unplugging from the TV networks has really helped. It will be interesting to see if this pattern continues.
Embarking on and embracing this next chapter of my life where I start the great adventure of becoming a grandmother.
Debbie, we unplugged from the cable a few months ago. We got an indoor antenna(because we live in Florida and need to keep up with weather) and Netflix. Mostly, we listen to music at night. Not only are we saving $$, but we are reconnecting with each other again. It is so nice. You are right about all the happenings in the worlds this enough to make you want to scream. Watching all the politicians is like watching the Jerry Springer show, and we all know, that show is nothing positive. Anyway, enjoy your new found freedom from the tube and enjoy life.
ReplyDeleteHI Kathi, we have one of those indoor antennas too for our living room tv. My husband does have to get it hooked up though. We also have an old fashioned antenna that our bedroom TV is hooked up so and we get a few PBS stations on that when the weather is good. ;) We do have Netflix, thanks to our oldest son and his wife who gifted us with that. I hope your weather in Florida is good right now. I worry about people in your part of the world when those horrible storms roll through. Be blessed!
DeleteI unplugged for about a year. Then I switched cell phone services and they offered me a great deal for internet and TV in addition to the cell. I took it to see if I was missing anything. The truth is there are only a couple of regular TV shows I miss. Mostly I record and watch reruns of a couple of my favorite shows. Once in a while I find a movie on the super channels to watch. So, at the end of this package deal, I'll be back to Netflix and Amazon Fire Stick.
ReplyDeleteBarbara, we are looking into the Fire Stick and Gbox also. I'm not sure if we will do either one though since I am really enjoying this break from the TV. :)
DeleteDear Debbie,
ReplyDeleteWe barely watch TV (free to air). It is hard to find anything worth watching these days. We have not had pay TV for many, many years and I have not missed it, although I did enjoy the country music channel and lifestyle channel. Our pay TV in Australia would be completely different to yours, as we are backward compared to the US lol!
I too suffer from anxiety and you are right about the doom and gloom that is on TV and radio. I think we would be better off not knowing what is happening in the world...
I am glad to hear you are reconnecting with your husband, that is a wonderful thing to happen.
xTania
Tania, I'm not sure that it would be completely different than yours. About half of the channels are infomercials that we are paying to see. Ridiculous! I loved the country channel and the cooking and lifestyle channels, but I have found I can find some of them to watch online for free. :) I'm sorry you suffer from anxiety also. Even facebook freaks me out at times.
DeleteWe cut the cable almost 2 years ago. We use an antenna and have plenty of things to watch. I find we often leave the tv off for hours at a time. It is wonderful that you and your husband are connecting without tv. I see how it could effect your anxiety. I use to be a news junky and it really isn't good to see the distrubing thing over and over and hear all the commentators talk about how awful things are and how they will get worse. I sometimes think living with my head in the sand part of the time isn't all bad.
ReplyDeleteHi Wendi, I figure that I can always pull up the news online and if something major happens, Facebook will have it on their sidebar thing. ;) I hear on on the having the TV on for hours at a time...my hubby would do that, even watching infomercials for something to do...it drove me nuts.
DeleteHave a nice day!
I can testify that that cancelling our service years ago was the biggest blessing. My marriage was based on what was on and we hardly talked. I am so thankful one day we decided to cut it off. We spent m any evening of the front porch drinking lemonade and reconnecting. It also showed us some heart issues and that was a good. We began to deal with those as well.
ReplyDeleteI can also say it will reduce your anxieties. It also helped me in my discontentment. I found that I became so discontent with the clothes I had (because I watched fashion stuff), the home we had (because I was a BHG addict) and when I cut the cable this went away eventually.
Thank you for the encouragement Chrissy and for sharing how it helped your marriage, feeling of discontentment and anxiety. I will say that one of the sources of great amusement for my husband and I was watching the house hunters shows and just wondering why people would pay half a million dollars for a tiny place in New York or "need" a 4,000 square foot home when it was just them and 1 child (with no plans to have more). That is just insane!
DeleteHow great that you have experienced so many benefits from this change, I hope that things keep improving for you. xx
ReplyDeleteThank Amy!
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