Quitters Never Win
I am a huge fan of reality tv. It’s my guilty pleasure. My favorite shows? The Biggest Loser, Survivor, The Amazing Race, America’s Next Top Model, and The Bachelor. Yes, I know some people think these shows are awful, but there’s just something I love about them. It’s all about the drama, I think. I enjoy seeing how people behave in different situations. Plus, I like the aspect of picking favorites and rooting for them. Like, right now I’m rooting for Chantal on The Bachelor. There’s just something about her that I like.
But lately on some of my favorite shows, there has been a terrible trend. Quitting. Seriously? I want to scream at the screen every time I see someone quit. I want to yell, “Don’t you know how many people wanted to be on this show? How many people would have given anything to be in your place?” But of course, they can’t hear me. It just makes me so angry to see someone come onto one of these shows – get a one in a million opportunity to win money or change their lives – and then walk away because they couldn’t hack it.
On Survivor’s last season, two girls quit. One of them being purple Kelly, which made me just argghhhh! So mad! Then on the Biggest Loser, twins Dan and Don actually gained weight, threw their weigh-in and got sent home in consecutive weeks. Why? Because they’re big ol’ babies. They couldn’t stand to be away from their family. I can sort of understand that. I mean, I hate to be away from my husband. He’s my best friend and there’s no one in the world I’d rather spend time with. But I’m still going to Emerald Isle this weekend for a writer’s retreat. Why? Because writing is incredibly important to me. It’s a priority, so therefore it’s worth a little bit of sacrifice.
Okay, so maybe it isn’t fair to compare one weekend away to months at the ranch. But in the end, if Dan and Don were dedicated to losing weight, they would have been willing to make that sacrifice. I don’t think they left because they missed their families. I think they left because they couldn’t handle the hard work. Plain and simple. I’m sure it’s hard. Life is hard. Being healthy is hard. Reaching for any major goal in life is hard freakin’ work.
In everyone’s life, there are times when we’re forced to go uphill. To work so hard that it hurts. What separates winners from losers is the determination and willpower and dedication to keep going, despite the pain and hard work. Quitters don’t make good reality tv. I hate to watch when someone quits because it’s too hard. To me, those people are losers – in so many ways. I’m definitely not perfect by any means, but I don’t ever want to be a quitter. I feel like there were times in my life when I was a quitter. A loser. Less than I wanted to be. But now is not that time. I’m determined to be successful, no matter how long it takes.
With Survivor and ANTM and The Amazing Race starting up again this month, I’m keeping my fingers crossed that there will be some inspirational players. No quitters, please.