The Meaning of Perseverance

Last night, i watched the most emotional hour and half of television i think i have ever seen. All of it being as close to real life television you can get! I didn't quite need the box of tissues but there were definitely a couple of tears shed. Let me share it with you.

Over the last month or so i've been getting into the biggest loser. Partly because i love seeing how much they lose, partly because i love hearing their stories, party because i love watching the physical and emotional hurdels they overcome, partly because i applied to be on it and partly because i can relate to how they feel!

It's been intense but really good. I love the trainers Shannon and Michelle. They're horribly strict but the contestants benefit from it in the end. I think if it was me in some scenarios, i'd definitely give them a piece of my mind! The contestants do well being so calm! But having said that, the trainers hearts are definitely in the right spot and when they're not training, they're really sweet, amazing people.

Last night the episode of Biggest Loser was one of the most touching episodes i've seen, all the episodes of Jules aside!

Damien realised how much people believed in him when he got the chance to prove himself when the others threw him a lifeline and i was so touched that Patti was willing to sacrifice her loyalty for Greg for Damien's better quality of life.

Then on the other extreme, Marty was an arrogant pig who only cares about the money and winning. He would rather have seen Greg win, than think of helping Damien have a second chance of LIFE! When everyone else could see that it was more than a game for Damien, Marty still chose to be selfish and tried to elimate Damien.

So right there, i had mixed emotions, happiness for damien's sake, yet concern about how he'd deal with his win, this uncontainable joy for Patti when she had found it in her heart to care for Damien's life and not the game, and a VERY sickening sadness that Marty cared not for someone's life but for personal gain.

It reminded me how selfish we are and how off-track we can be as humans, how self-centred and self-focused we become when we know there's alot to be gained out of others demise! We can be really nasty, self-righteous, self-proclaimed creatures, instead of thinking how we can help others around us.

Just recently a friend mentioned to me how when we're in conversation with someone, all the other person is thinking is what they're gonna say next. Forget listening to what they're saying, we're more concerned about what OUR story is. Something that i, myself, needs to work on!

I know why Marty did what he did (other than because he believes he can win - pffft), he did it in an attempt to save Greg's spot in the game as Greg was pretty much his only true and sincere friend. Which in itself made me feel sad for him that no-one likes his company. I also found it sad that he would brush off Patti's decision (which i'm sure wasn't easy for her) as being untrustworthy. His feelings obviously coming from his hurt of losing Greg, one of his only friends!

Greg was a very strong contestant and by the end of the show, after they'd shown where he was at now, it was pretty obvious how well he's doing and how much he'd achieved by coming as far as he did. His parting remarks, which made my heart break, showed just how much emotional pain his weight had caused him and i understood exactly where he was coming from. But to see how much disbelief he'd had in himself and how much self-hatred his weight had caused him before the show made me all teary and just so sad knowing that there are SO many people just like him hating themselves because of their appearance. Waking up everyday wishing they didn't have to wake up. Greg was ashamed of the husband, father and son he had become because of his weight. I was just so sad for him, never have i ever wanted to jump into a television set and hug someone to tell them how invaluable they are and how much they have to offer more than i did last night. I think Greg was one of the most inspiring people i've seen on the show! I think Greg deserved to be alot more than some of them ie. marty or laura but i also think that he's extremely capable of achieving the things he wants to achieve and i think that show gave him the kick start he needed!

WOW EMOTIONAL BIGGEST LOSER!

The other show was Bondi rescue. I don't usually watch this show but they had a fatality and as i've blogged before, it's an area of interest to me (this is still an unexplained phenomena!).

What happened was that a man had been washed out with the rip and two lifeguards had seen him go under. After 45 minutes of ALL lifeguards searching for the disappeared man, they stopped searching. About 3 hours later the man's son came up to the lifeguards as they were packing up to go home and reported him missing. They eventually found him dead, which in itself is pretty disturbing especially for the son and mother. But for the two lifeguards who'd originally spotted him, i just can't imagine how they must've felt. They debriefed at the end but i realised that there would be so many things those lifeguards would battle with probably for the rest of their lives. As the show stated, Bondi hasn't had a fatality for 4 years and fatalities are a rare thing but CAN happen. It made me so hurt inside that in the event of trying to save someone's life, you CAN in fact, lose it. Life, like i keep being reminded of lately, is so fragile and it can be taken from us in an instant. I was particularly upset when one lifeguard relayed the kind of questions of did he make a mistake, was there something he missed, could he have done more? For him, the satisfaction that they'd done all they could was not enough when a life was lost, when in actual fact, all they did was all they COULD do! Life is so important to us that it can become so complicated and so messy when it's lost.

Then i had emotions going through me about the asian family who had only migrated here in the last week. It was the father's birthday THAT day! I was just overwhelmed at how much his birthday will mean to them for the rest of their lives, about how surreal it all would've been for them, especially to have camera's and crowds surrounding something so personal and private. I also thought about one lifeguards huge responsability he had to keep them calm and reassured when they started to realise the graveness of the situation.

And amonsgt that there was a huge sense of pride for lifeguards and for my country when the family had sent the lifeguards a sad letter thanking them for all they did and for the support and care our country had showed to them.

Between that episode and the biggest loser, there were so many emotions and things going through my head which may in fact have been the cause of so much hurt i was feeling.

Sometimes i just can't comprehend how much one person can go through. I always think my life is crappy and miserable and the things i've experienced are awful enough but when i think of other people who have experienced things i can't begin to imagine happening, i just become so overwhelmed. I mean Jules, such a lovely woman who experienced her first baby having down syndrome, her second baby having leukemia and her husband dying before her third child was even born.

And this weekend after helping with an Anya camp (for disadvantaged girls) i just see how unfair life truly is for some people and how blessed i am with the things i have and experience. And in amongst all of this, my mind just keeps going back to Job. A man who loved God through thick and thin, no other man had more trials and tribulations than he did, yet his love for God was unquenchable.

AMAZING.

I love the theme song for Biggest Loser, in fact i just love shannon noll all together! So i thought it would be appropriate to blog the lyrics!

LIFT
Shannon Noll

I know you're hurting
Feels like you're learning
'Bout life the hard way
And it ain't working

Seems like forever
That you've been falling
It's time to move on
You're life is calling, yeah

This was never meant to be the end
Close the book and start again

[CHORUS]
Cause I know how hard it can get
But you gotta lift
You gotta lift
And sometimes that's how it is
But I know you're stronger
Stronger than this
You gotta lift
You gotta lift

When you can feel your
Whole body's aching
What's left of your heart
It won't stop breaking
You gotta let go
You took a hit
Time to pick up now
Move on from this

This was never meant to be the end
Close the book and start again

[CHORUS]
Cause I know how hard it can get
But you gotta lift
You gotta lift
And sometimes that's how it is
But I know you're stronger
Stronger than this
You gotta

Lift yourself up above all the hurt
Don't give it
Wipe your eyes and remember
You're better than this
Let them know
That they took their best shot
And missed
C'mon and lift

This was never meant to be the end
Close the book and start again

Tink xoxo