You are what you stream. Love, Dad.

You are what you stream. Love, a Dad.

June 12, 2024

While I was unloading the groceries into the house today, I was quietly singing this line
repeatedly:

“I’ve got those moves like Jagger, got those moves like Jagger…”

As I finished putting the squeezable applesauce pouches into the refrigerator, I turned
around to see my wife staring at me with a blank stare on her face.

“What’s up?” I said, unable to get a read on her body language.

“Well, babe. You’ve been letting the whole house know that you have ‘moves like
Jagger’ for the last 10 minutes.”

“What are you talking about?” I said, confused. “I’ve just been putting away the
groceries.”

“Yeah, and while you’ve been doing that, you’ve also been singing ‘moves like Jagger’,
and shaking your backside around the whole kitchen.”

“Are you serious?” I was genuinely confused.

I hadn’t once thought about that song, or even noticed that I was singing it for the last
several minutes. I concluded that the song must have been playing on the radio during
my drive home and that it had been subconsciously stuck in my head.

Our brains have a crazy way of holding onto things, often without us even realizing it.
Think about the last 48 hours of your life. What things have you let into your eyes and
ears that you convinced yourself weren’t really a big deal? Did you watch a show filled
with violence or explicit content? Did you listen to music or a podcast that made you
feel anger or hopelessness?

I’m not trying to shame you, trust me. I’d be embarrassed if you saw all the things that I
willingly let into my own eyes and ears on a regular basis. But here’s the point: those
things don’t just enter our brain and then get thrown out. Instead, they stick. They get
packed up and stored away somewhere deep in our brain and souls. It may have felt
innocent or insignificant at the time, but now we look around, and our minds are full of
junk.

You are being shaped by the things you are watching and listening to.
Most of us don’t want to believe that reality. We’d like to convince ourselves that we
are our own independent person, free from the influences of the outside world.
But don’t be deceived.

What you watch and what you listen to are changing you as a person. They are
shaping your heart. They change the way you interact with your spouse, your kids, and
the world around you.

Take a minute and think about the last 48 hours of your life. How many things did you
meditate on that were positive and uplifting? Were the things that you willingly let into
your eyes and ears good for you?

As the leaders of our homes, I’m convinced that the more junk we let into our ‘house,’
the messier our actual household becomes.

Take a minute and list out everything that you willingly consume during a regular week.
List the news sources you turn to, the apps you spend the most time on, the shows
you watch, the music and podcasts you listen to, and so on. Now, take that list and
measure it against your values. Do they make the cut? Are they positive, uplifting, and
beneficial?

I encourage you to purge the things in your life that are not beneficial for your well-being and the well-being of your family.

This is where tools like VidAngel become invaluable. VidAngel allows you to filter
content, giving you control over what you see and hear. It’s not about sheltering
yourself or your family from the world but about making wise choices that align with
your values and beliefs. By filtering out the noise, you create space for the good, the
true, and the beautiful to flourish in your home.

You’re doing a good job, Mom and Dad. Let’s keep striving to be better for our sake and theirs.


*This article was written by Jerrad Lopes and contains excerpts from his book “Dad Tired Mixtape”. You can learn more about Jerrad and his works by visiting Dadtired.com

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