Ready For An Intervention....??

Last night, I was up late watching one of my favorite shows: A&E channel's Intervention. This show is fantastic for a number of reasons and has a growing fanbase. The documentary-style camera work delves into the life of an addict (whether it be from booze or street drugs) and the addict's family. The show is good because it gives you a window into a world that has heretofore been thought of as seedy to most people and it also begins with a presentation of the addict's life, starting with infancy most times. It's captivating for as many reasons as the show is fantastic. One has to ask, How can this adorable little girl or boy have become this broken, confused and very sick adult we see on our t.v. screen? This, I think, is the main attraction of the show. It's so easy for us as a society to cast off those addicted individuals as people that must just be inherently evil or somehow deserving of their sickness. They aren't us and never will be. We share nothing in common with "those people". In most cases, the show demonstrates that the person has come to their way of life through a series of unfortunate and deeply disturbing traumas with which they just did not know how to cope healthily.

The other captivating feature of the show is that its producers offer help by means of an intervention, hence the series' name. What an incredible opportunity! What a once-in-a-lifetime moment! To walk into a room full of people you thought had cast you away (many of them having deep troubles of their own) and realize that they DO love you and are willing to set up this experience for your survival. Of course, the addict does not see it like this. He believes that his people are being vindictive, hateful, pushy and rude. He believes that he doesn't have a problem. He believes that the choices he has been making are perfectly fine and that he deserves what he has experienced.....except that the viewer can usually see in his eyes that he doesn't really believe that nonsense; he's just to sick to let go completely on the first try.

And this last part....this is the other intriguing aspect of the show. The viewer can't help but wonder how it is not immediately obvious to the addict that he has a problem and the most fantastic help he's every going to get has just been placed on his lap with loving hands. The viewer sits on her couch and suddenly realizes that she's been holding her breath the whole last 5 minutes of the intervention, silently pleading with that episode's addict to take the offer. Do it, she thinks. Do it for yourself, do it for your family, do it because most of us can tell you that life on the other side of your addiction is going to be so much better!

If you're an avid watcher of the show, you are probably just like me and wait with anticipation for the follow up information right before credits role. Sometimes, the cameras meet with the addict to find a healthier, more spiritually sound person. We are informed in white print on a black screen that he has continued to change his life for the better. Sometimes, we learn that addiction keeps its hold on the addict....and sadly, things haven't changed.

So, FitPhatties that are reading this blog, you might be wondering what any of this has to do with a blog on exercise and eating. The answer is: a lot. Because as I watched the show, I realized that I am not much better than the addict that denies there is a problem. If my life were on t.v., there might just be some viewer watching that is silently praying I will make the best decisions for my overall health and well-being....and actually, you FitPhatties are the closest thing that comes to being my audience. The whole club is an intervention, just waiting for me to accept the gift that has been placed so lovingly into my lap. It's interesting that it has taken me so long to realize that I am just as in need of intervention as a heroine addict or an alcoholic. We have all, at some time in our life, behaved in ways not conducive to healthy living. We have all been blind for awhile, scoffing at others that suggest there may be a way to live.

So which ending am I going to choose for myself? Am I ready for my intervention? I say yes. I see the cause of my unhappiness. There's help available although it may be hard. I need to take it. That's the point of the show Intervention. That's the point of life.