I just received this email from one of my favorite life coaches, Raymond Aaron, and this is his piece (not mine). The message is important and relevant to our modern lifestyle…
The Stranger My Dad Brought Home
You are the sum total of your five closest friends.
I have a true story to tell you.
Like most true stories, it contains a lesson.
I hope you will receive it.
It’s the story of…
“The Stranger”
A few years after I was born, my Dad met a stranger who was new to our small town.
From the beginning, Dad was fascinated with this enchanting newcomer and soon invited him to live with our family.
The stranger was quickly accepted and was around from then on.
As I grew up, I never questioned his place in my family. In my young mind, he had a special niche. My parents were complementary
instructors: Mom taught me good from evil, and Dad taught me to obey.
But the stranger… he was our storyteller.
He would keep us spellbound for hours on end with adventures, mysteries and humor.
If I wanted to know anything about politics, history or science, he always knew the answers about the past, understood the present and even seemed able to predict the future! He took my family to the first major league ball game. He made me laugh, and he made me cry. The stranger never stopped talking, but Dad didn’t seem to mind.
Sometimes, Mom would get up quietly while the rest of us were shushing each other to listen to what he had to say, and she would go to the kitchen for peace and quiet. (I wonder now if she ever prayed for the stranger to
leave.)
Dad ruled our household with certain moral convictions, but the stranger never felt obligated to honor them.
Profanity, for example, was not allowed in our home… Not from us, our friends or any visitors. Our longtime visitor, however, got away with four letter words that burned my ears and made my dad squirm and my mother blush.
My Dad didn’t permit the liberal use of
alcohol.
But the stranger encouraged us to try it on a regular basis.
He made cigarettes look cool, cigars manly and pipes distinguished.
He talked way too freely about sex.
His comments were sometimes blatant,
sometimes suggestive, and generally
embarrassing.
I now know that my early concepts about
relationships were influenced strongly by this stranger. Time after time he opposed the values of my parents, yet he was seldom rebuked…
And NEVER asked to leave.
More than fifty years have passed since the stranger moved in with our family. He has blended right in and is not nearly as fascinating as he was at first. Still, if you could walk into my parents’ den today, you would still find him sitting over in his corner, waiting for someone to listen to him talk and watch him draw his pictures.
His name?…
We just call him ‘TV.’
Maybe you know him.
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WHY I SHARED THIS STORY NOW
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I hope you enjoyed that little story. It has a huge moral, and NOW is the perfect time for you to hear it.
Why?
Because at this time of year – just after the New Year’s holiday, many of us have resolved to “change our lives”.
And for most people, the #1 enemy of sticking to those resolutions is our old friend (or is it “fiend”), Mr. TV.
TV is temporarily enjoyable; but in the long run is devastating.
There is practically no real learning on TV.
There is practically no getting out of debt by watching TV – indeed commercials powerfully promote buying what you had no idea you needed 60 seconds earlier.
There is practically no education on doubling your income on TV.
There is practically nothing except the
‘drug’ of pacifying yourself for a few hours with no benefit.
You may protest and say that you NEED a TV to relax. That’s not true. People relaxed before TV.
You may protest and say that you NEED a TV because you have children. That’s not true.
People had children before TV.
Indeed, I myself have a 8-year-old daughter.
When she is at her Mom’s home, she watches TV. When she is at my home we talk, we laugh, we play chess, we swim, we play checkers, we play tic-tac-toe, we exercise, we read, we do homework. In fact, my daughter loves singing. So, she sings and I record her on my FLIP video and post her videos on YouTube. She loves it.
Has she ever complained that Daddy does not have a TV? Sure. But, those complaints have decreased lately because she realizes that they serve no purpose.
Do her friends think I’m crazy when they come to my home with her to play? Yes. Does she feel embarrassed that her Daddy does not have a TV? Maybe. But, those feelings are not as important as the guidance I am showing her and the wonderful moments we share because there is no stranger called TV.
Geez, I wrote this email in less time than most people spent watching TV!
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NOW, IT’S YOUR CHOICE
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You have spent your time reading this email and I am grateful and honored. What will you do with it? My suggestions are (from least change to most change):
* Simply record the hours the TV is on and what you learned (this will likely shock you)
* Make a rule as to the maximum number of minutes you will watch TV each day
* Make a rule as to the type of show you will watch and the types of shows you will no longer watch
* Eliminate cable or satellite so that you are limited to only a very few channels possibly with weaker reception
* Move the TV to a less desirable place in the home
* Eliminate all but one TV
* Sell all your TVs on eBay
How much will you do? I don’t know.
But I do know this… the less TV you have in your life, the more room you leave for success.
Something to think about.
Love,
Raymond
PS – With all this “extra” time on your hands now that you’re not watching all that TV, you might want to read my best-selling book. And I’ll give you a copy free… http://www.freebookfromraymond.com
