I don’t consider myself to be an emotional guy, although, the years, and to an extent, life, have definitely softened me. It’s not that I was ever hardened, or at least I don’t think I was. I’m just definitely not one to wear emotion on my sleeve.
Part of that thick skin, I believe, is due to my experiences on the Fire Department. I don’t think one would last for more than a day on the job if you let things really get to you. You see too much. Experience too much. Pain, tragedy, loss, hurt, and then other times joy, relief and even humour; a spectrum of thoughts, sights, and emotions as vast as the clear blue sky.
For all the shows on television, there is only one – has only been one – that truly touches me each time I watch it. In the span of 60 minutes my heart can break as the story begins and then leap as it ends. My eyes can glisten with tears in one moment, and sparkle with joy in the next. I ache from the depths of human tragedy and suffering, and then become inspired by a willingness and ability to move mountains that previously stood in the way of healing.
In my opinion, Extreme Makeover Home Edition is among the best that television has to offer simply for the fact that it’s not about me. What I mean to say is, it’s not about self. Television tends to be self oriented. Game Shows about winning me big money. Reality Shows about me winning a competition. Sit-coms and Dramas about the pursuit of self gratification – success, wealth, sex – me… me… me. Not me personally mind you, but me in the sense of self.
Extreme Makeover, on the other hand, is all about somebody else. It’s about taking a tragedy, taking a loss, taking pain, taking struggles, and doing what otherwise may not be able to be done on our own. Beating the odds. It’s about families, friends, neighbours, and entire communities coming together for a common goal… to serve! My heart warms just thinking about it.
I know the show has it’s critics, and I know some question it’s extravagance – though I believe it’s been toned down over the years – but all else aside, you can’t question the motives. To change lives. To help people. To provide second chances. To make the impossible, possible. In it’s purest, simplest form… to serve.
Each week I watch the show and wish I could be a part of it. What a joy it must be to volunteer with the show for a week. This week, in the middle of a brutal Texas heat wave where the temperature never dropped below 100F, people kept their eye on the goal… to serve. They cast aside their own comfort. They worked through their own pain. They gave their time, their effort, their energy, their blood, sweat and tears, and they did it, not for their own personal gain, but for somebody else.
This week at work somebody handed me the Future Shop flyer. They know I enjoy browsing through it. Wishful thinking mostly. As the flyer was placed on the desk I joked that I shouldn’t be looking at it because it will just make me want to spend money. The individuals response was, “well isn’t that why you work? To make money so you can spend it on yourself?”
I thought a lot about that statement. It made me a little sad, if I’m being honest, because it really is a reflection of the way so much of society thinks. It’s all about me. Things for me. For my entertainment. For my joy. For my pleasure. Sum up commom thinking in a single word… me.
It’s great to watch a show like Extreme Makeover Home Edition and be inspired. We should be inspired! But inspiration isn’t enough. Thoughts are nice. Words can be well meaning. Actions, though, are real! They’re love in motion.
I will likely never be on a team that builds a house in 7 days; but I could volunteer for Habitat For Humanity. I will likely never solve world hunger; but I can make a donation to my local food bank. I may never save a child from poverty; but I can sponsor one through World Vision. I may never save a life; but I can touch one.
Do something this week for somebody else, with no expectation of return. Do something that doesn’t invole “me”.
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