5 Reasons Why You Should Stop Watching TV

When I was a child, I used to spend much of my time every day watching television. I would watch almost anything TV was presenting me with, as long as it was entertaining: reality shows, newscasts, movies, and so on.

At some point in my teenage years, I realized how much of my life I had been wasting in front of a screen that was harming me physically, mentally, emotionally and spiritually. Since then, only on rare occasions have I watched television, and for more than the last 10 years of my life there’s no TV set to be found in my house.

Now you might ask: But is watching TV really that bad?

The truth is that television is a tool that can be used both for good and bad purposes, but as we know it to exist today, for the most part it’s certainly detrimental to our well-being, and here are five compelling reasons why you should stop watching TV:

1. It feeds your mind with lies

One of the best reasons why you should stop watching television is that it is feeding your mind with lies. Mainstream television is controlled by the corporate elite, which, due to its vested interests, brainwashes its viewers with false information. Most people think that newscasts present the truth in an objective manner, but in reality their goal is to program them into believing what the elite wants them to believe. This way television is turning people into passive, thoughtless beings, who, unaware of their ignorance, fervently believe that they possess knowledge about most social issues.

2. It turns you into a mindless consumer

The reason why most TV channels exist is purely for the economic gain of their corporate owners, and what is a better way to earn money than by displaying commercials? Manipulative advertising is urging people to buy products, by making them believe that what they need in order to be happy and successful is to consume — and that the more stuff they consume, the better their life will get. In reality, however, material objects don’t contribute much to our well-being once our basic physical needs are met, hence buying more stuff to satisfy our emotional needs will always leave us disappointed.

3. It makes you feel bad about yourself

In order for commercials to work, they need to convince people that they are not good enough as they are. For example, in order to make people buy beauty & fashion products, they first need to make them believe that they aren’t beautiful and significant enough as they are. If they want to sell a shiny car, they try to make people feel that they lack confidence and status. As you can understand, television is constantly filling your mind with negativity and can ultimately turn you into an enemy of yourself.

4. It’s harming your health

Another obvious yet often unrecognized reason to stop watching TV is that it’s having a negative impact on your health. Indeed, over the last years research has shown that watching TV for even just a couple of hours every day can significantly increase the chances of obesity, heart disease, and diabetes.

5. It disconnects you from people

People are social beings with a deep desire to connect and communicate with others. Being used to wasting hours upon hours watching TV, however, the majority of them end up feeling lonely and alienated, confined within four walls, away from the presence of friends and family. As a result, they become depressed, not having anybody to share their being with in this awesome yet sometimes harsh journey of life.

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Life can be much more than just passively watching TV, as if you are a zombie, merely surviving but not feeling truly alive. Life can be filled with tremendously beautiful experiences and invaluable lessons, and a good first step to achieve that is to put an end to watching TV.