革命性的决心　Resolution Revolution

I find television very educational.Every time someone switches it on I go into another room and read a good book.

～Groucho Marx

Friends and family constantly ask me how I can possibly find time to do all the things I do. Needing only about five hours of sleep each night helps, but it was a specific resolution that I consciously initiated that really makes everything I do possible.

I'm not sure it was so much a resolution as a revolution. I simply revolted and gave up television, or at least 90 percent of it.I did this near my fiftieth birthday.Perhaps it was a midlife crisis, but I think it was a midlife awakening.I realized that at age fifty either I was well over halfway to being dead, or I was entering a time when more opportunities than ever awaited me, but only if I made changes in my life.I resolved to knock on opportunity's door by making the needed changes rather than to continue pounding on death's status-quo door.

A little math revealed that I had already spent eight years of my life watching television. It added up quickly：an hour or two each morning watching cartoons as a kid；four hours or more in the evening watchingnews, sitcoms, and movies as an adult, plus weekend baseball and football games.The funny thing is I can only recall a handful of programs from all those years of television watching！I remember seeing Roots-that had an impact.I remember the drama of the space race.I remember the names of a few programs-Father Knows Best, The Brady Bunch, The Sonny and Cher Show, Star Trek, The Ed Sullivan Show-but the only things I remember were that I was in love with Cher, and Captain Kirk constantly beamed himself somewhere.The rest remains forever blank.

So is what I've gained by giving up television worth more than what I've missed?I have never seen an episode of Lost, Sex in the City, or Survivor. Have I missed anything?I think not.I can't remember the last time I watched more than an inning or two of a baseball game or a full quarter of football.Have I missed anything?Nope！Occasionally I watch one of those police drama shows, but I have never experienced any long-term moving experiences or developed even a single noteworthy thought that lingered beyond the closing commercial.And within a day or two I can't even tell you what I last watched, let alone its story line.I attribute part of my forgetfulness to aging and the associated memory loss, but I'm convinced it has more to do with television’s illuminating content-or lack thereof.

What do I do with those extra four or five hours each day?I own a writing business that includes penning books and travel articles, building and maintaining two websites, and traveling for several weeks or months each year. I've been to Costa Rica, Vietnam, Oregon, Washington, Southern California and New England so far this year.

Each spring I plant a huge garden that supplies us with tomatoes, beans, squash, pumpkins, peppers and more. I build furniture in my shop, although the wooden kayak I started five years ago remains hanging from the rafters, half completed.I've remodeled our house, inside and out.I belong to a book club, so I“must”read at least one new book each month, but usually manage two or three.

I take my three-year-old grandson, Jake, for a couple of days each month, and we go out and just have fun. I go on twenty and thirty mile bike rides several times each month.I ride bikes or play games with my stepson Shawn-and help with homework（ugh！）and volunteer at his school.During the past two years I've taken guitar lessons, piano lessons and voice lessons and continue to enjoy all three-although my family is less entertained by my practicing than I am.

While I have no idea what I last watched on television, I do remember what my grandson Jake and I did together last week；I remember the songs I have written and learned to play on my piano and guitar. I remember our travels in Vietnam and Costa Rica and the three weeks I spent driving 5，000 miles throughout Oregon and Washington this summer researching a new book.I remember the book I just finished reading for my book club.

I haven't made a New Years resolution since my television revolution ten years ago. Having significantly reduced television in my daily routine, I figure I have added at least six years to my life to do the things that I really want to do, things that I will fondly remember well beyond the last commercial-but wait, there are no commercials in my life.Can't beat that！

～Ken McKowen

我觉得电视很有教育意义。

每当有人打开电视机，我就去另外一个房间找本好书读。

——格劳乔·马克斯

亲朋好友经常问我，说我的事情那么多，怎么找到充足的时间来把一切都处理得妥妥当当呢？这可能和我每天睡的时间不多有关，因为我每天只睡五个小时。但还是因为我有意识地下了一个决心，是那个决心让我能处理完生活中的各种事情。

我不知道这个决心算不算一次革命。当时，我一咬牙决定戒掉电视，至少要减掉90%看电视的时间。下这个决心的时候正临近我50岁生日。可能是因为面临所谓的“中年危机”，但我更觉得这应该叫中年觉悟。50岁要么就是枯木之年，静静等待死神，要么就是迎来了前所未有的机遇，但是迎接机遇需要调整生活。我决心作出积极的改变，叩响机遇之门，不能坐等死神到来。

通过简单的数学计算得出，原来自己已经在看电视上花了八年的时间。这个加法算起来很快：童年的时候，每天上午看一两个小时的动画片；长大了以后，每天看四小时的晚间新闻、情景喜剧和电影；周末的时候还要看棒球和橄榄球比赛。虽然这么多年看过无数电视节目，可笑的是我现在竟然记不起几个来！我记得自己当时看过《根》——这部电视剧对我影响很大。我还记得自己看过关于星球大战的电视剧。此外还有其他几个电视节目，包括《知子莫若父》、《布雷迪家庭》、《索尼和雪儿》、《星际迷航》和《爱德·萨利文秀》。现在就只记得自己当时很喜欢雪儿，还记得《星际迷航》里面科克舰长总是传送来传送去，其他就什么也记不起来了。

说了这么多，戒掉电视到底是收获更多，还是失去更多？《迷失》、《欲望都市》，还有《幸存者》这些流行美剧，我一集都没有看过。我失去什么了吗？我觉得没有。我记不得自己上次看棒球和橄榄球比赛是什么时候了。我失去什么了吗？当然没有！我现在偶尔看看警匪片，但是也就是看过就忘得一干二净。过不了一两天我就连自己上次看的是什么都想不起来了，更别提故事情节了。这可能是跟我自己上了岁数，记忆力减退有关。但最主要的，还是因为这些电视节目内容浮浅，甚至空洞。

戒掉电视，我每天都多了四五个小时，这些时间干什么好呢？我有一份写作的工作，包括写书和旅游文章。我还建立了两个网站，需要维护。此外，我每年都要外出旅行几个星期，有时甚至几个月。到今年为止，我到过哥斯达黎加、越南、俄勒冈州、华盛顿州、加州南部和新英格兰11。

每年春天，我都在花园里种上一大堆蔬菜，包括西红柿、扁豆、西葫芦、南瓜，还有辣椒什么的。五年前我想做个独木舟，但直到现在都没有做完，那个半成品还在椽子上挂着呢。我现在开始在店里面自己动手做家具了。我把家里里外外都整修了一遍。不光这些，我还加入了一家读书俱乐部，所以每个月“必须”读完一本书，但是通常我都能读完两三本。

每个月，我都得照看几天三岁的小孙子杰克，每次都领着他到户外玩耍。每个月，我都会骑自行车出去走几趟，每次都走上二三十英里12。我和继子肖恩一起骑自行车，一起玩游戏。哦，对了！我还教他做作业。不光这样，我还在他的学校里面做义工。过去两年来，我还参加吉他课程、钢琴课程和声乐课程，从中获得了很多乐趣。每次弹吉他、弹钢琴或者唱歌的时候，自己都比作为观众的家里人还要开心。

虽然我记不起自己上次看电视看的是什么，但我却对上周和孙子杰克一起做的事情记得清清楚楚；我记得自己写的歌词，并且学着用钢琴和吉他来演奏；我记得我们在越南和哥斯达黎加的旅行；记得在今年夏天我花了三个星期，驱车5000英里走遍俄勒冈州和华盛顿州为新书寻找素材；我还记得在读书俱乐部里面刚刚读完的那本书。

自从十年前我下决心戒掉电视，就从来没有再下过新年决心。随着日常生活中看电视的时间大幅减少，我至少增加了六年时间去做自己真正想做的事情，真正值得怀念的事情。这些事情远比电视广告更值得留念。等一下，我生活里从此没有广告了。感觉真是太棒了！

——肯·麦考文