I had three events happen to me today in a matter of hours that reminded me of how I am addicted to TV, and how is it not that good for me.

First, we may soon be taking a trip to a Disney Vacation Club Resort for a little family time.  That got me thinking of one of my favorite attractions at Disney.

Walt Disney created an attraction for the 1964 World's Fair in New York called the "Carousel of Progress."  It eventually moved to the Magic Kingdom in Walt Disney World in Orlando, and it remains a nostalgic attraction for many.

Stay with me...

In one of the scenes replicating the 1940's, an audio-animatronic father figure is talking about their new TV.  He states the following:

"You know, I predict the day that millions of people will learn Latin and Greek sitting in front of their TV sets."

Sure...either Latin, Greek, or language from The Real Housewives of Orange County.  I am learning some new words from them, but they are always bleeped out...

Second, I was getting physical therapy on my back today when the therapist mentioned that she was babysitting last weekend.  She told me that the parents only let their kids watch TV or play the Wii for a maximum of 30 minutes per day.  She said that she was raised the same way.  "Yes", I said, "but remember we only had three channels, so there was not much on..."

30 minutes!  My kids watch 30 minutes before they get to school.  I can watch 30 minutes in my sleep!

Finally, I returned to work where I found a blog post about this very subject.  It is by an author named Clay Shirkey, and you can read the entire article here.  In it, he talks about the concept of cognitive surplus.  He states that Americans watch two hundred billion hours of TV each year.

200,000,000,000 hours!

and his point is well taken...

What could we do with all that extra brainpower that is just sitting around dying a slow death while we watch The Biggest Loser, Survivor, CSI or anything else.

What could I do with that extra three hours per night from 7:00pm-10:00pm?

How would my leadership skills improve?  What could I learn to make me a better leader?  How could I help my community, my church, my neighbors during that time?

I know I would add more value than by just watching TV!

April 16-22, 2009 is "National Turn off the TV Week." 

I wonder if I can do it...

especially if they crown the next American Idol during that week...