There are few things as terrifying as a bored 2 year old. Because 2 year olds don’t have the decency to lie. When they are unhappy they tell you. When they are hungry they tell you. And when they want to go outside, they don’t respect that you just had a long day at work and just want to lie down. They stand at the back door and plead “Outside! Outside!”

But we couldn’t be happier to take our daughter outside. We thought that moving recently from our townhouse might traumatize her. Instead, we felt like we had been one of those people who keeps a German Shepard in a tiny downtown apartment, wasting away without ever seeing the green fields it was born to run in.

But “OUTSIDE!” Isn’t just good for her. It is good for me, and it is good for you. Talking walks, and not just walks around your downtown block but real walks where there are trees and stuff, is scientifically proven to be excellent for your health. But one of the best things about it is simply that it is not a screen.

Screens are proven to increase stress.
Decrease your ability to sleep.
Lead to increased sexual activity in teenagers. *It’s totally true. Look it up.

Studies have shown that Canadians on average spend nearly 7 hours a day looking at a screen. If your job is on a computer then it’s probably much more. And now we don’t just look at one, we work at our computer while checking our phone, then go work out at the gym where we watch tv. Then we go home, and have Netflix playing while we eat dinner and catch up on social media on our ipad…….

……Excuse me a minute while I sit here and feel sad about everything….

….Alright. It basically comes down to this. The pornified brains behind the creation of nearly all of our media have created endless changing entertainment and distraction. I would make the case for just how bad it is, but quite frankly, the last ten years have been such a complete case study in how unhealthy our constant screen consumption has been for us that if you disagree, the onus is now on you to prove it otherwise.

So the challenge is thusly. Screens do not help your brain, surrounded by our pornified culture, to relax, be creative, think, be at peace. Definitely not helping anyone get free of pornography.

Going outside does. How much should you decrease your screentime, and how much should you increase your outside time? That’s up to you. But we can all agree it should be less inside, more outside. So at the most basic.  Our 2nd challenge is this. Start with once. “Once this week, Instead of watching a movie or tv show, I will go for a walk.”

Have you joined the Challenge on Facebook? See what others are doing to declutter their lives and follow along with the challenges each day.