Did you know that the typical American spends about 3 hours per day watching TV? That’s 90 hours per month, 1095 hours per year, and a whopping 7.5 years over a 60-year span. The amount of time I have wasted watching TV during my life absolutely sickens me. However, I made a significant change nearly three years ago and stopped watching TV altogether. Television is a mind-numbing time waster that robs us of true quality time and active engagement with loved ones. It also causes us to be in a state of anxiety and shame (feeling not good enough) due to all the subliminal messages, especially in commercials. I have used this newfound time on pursuits that bring me enrichment and real enjoyment which are described below.  

• Learning about natural cures and remedies. Have you ever read the list of side effects on prescription drugs? Many are worse than what they are intended to treat. Have you ever thought, “There has to be a better way?” Well, there are many remedies out there that are natural and cost less than prescription drugs, which is why they are not widely known. Remedies exist for everything from the common cold to diabetes to cancer. If you want to know where to access this information, feel free to email me. You can also find many medical experts who support natural and alternative remedies by searching for functional medicine and/or integrative medical doctors. 
• Learning how to avoid disease and be heathier. Our body’s natural state is health. If we give it the nutrients it needs and avoid foods and contaminants that cause disease, we will be healthy, and our immune system will be strong enough to fight off any viruses and bacteria that we may encounter. There is a wealth of information available on ways to improve our health, and the best thing we can do is avoid processed foods, fast-food, and alcohol. (Avoid foods with “bioengineered ingredients” listed on the package ingredients as well. Learn more by clicking here.) Processed and fast-food poison us over time because they contain dangerous chemical additives. (Canola oil is deadly.) These chemicals are destructive to our bodies and cause disease, and so does alcohol. Many other countries do not allow these chemicals and ingredients in their food like we do in the U.S. Have you ever asked yourself, “Why?” 
• Learning about our government and legal system. Like most people, I didn’t pay much attention to how our government and legal system work, and I couldn’t care less about politics. Did you know that most Americans can’t even name the three branches of government: Executive, Judicial and Legislative, and certainly can’t tell you how they function? I am no expert, but I have been learning because I think it’s important to know. Government officials have been sneaking things that are detrimental to us into bills for many years without us noticing or paying attention. My eyes are now wide open and focused on their every move.  
• Strengthening my spiritual relationship with God. We are spiritual beings having a human experience. We were not born to simply work our entire lives, pay taxes, reproduce, and then die. We are meant to further our spiritual journey and experience love while we are here on this earth. We do this by strengthening our connection to God (through prayer, meditation, reading the bible, going to church, etc.) and through our relationships with other people. The reason for our existence is to love others. There is an afterlife and much more beyond this physical world. The inspirational new documentary After Death (an excellent movie now playing in theaters) explores numerous accounts of near-death experiences providing undeniable evidence of the afterlife. Our country and our world are currently on the brink of destruction. If ever there was a time to pray to God, THAT TIME IS NOW.    
• Engaging in activities that bring me joy. Aside from learning about the topics described above, I have spent time doing things that I enjoy such as spending time with my husband, dogs, family and friends, spending time in nature, learning and trying new things, going to new places, reading, writing, watching videos about places I would like to visit, and more. The only time we have is NOW. We are in charge of our own happiness, which is an inside process. You can read my newsletter here on how to increase your overall happiness.  

We can’t control many things that are happening in the world, but we can control how we choose to spend our free time. We can never get back lost time. We will wish for more time at the end of our lives. May you make the most of your time NOW and value it as a precious resource. Make each new day count. 

 “Lost time is never found again.” – Benjamin Franklin

“Time is the most valuable thing a man can spend.” – Theophrastus 

“The way we spend our time defines who we are.” – Jonathan Estrin