By By Adam Prestridge
Therapy isn't for everyone. Every now and then though, a person needs to release his or her stress and emotions in order to make it through the next week.
A lot of the emotional stress can be linked back to strenuous jobs that require a lot of responsibilities and long hours. Not to knock all the bosses that require more of their employees, but work is a big factor.
Other factors include family problems, finances and not being able to spend as much time with your loved ones as much as desired.
To help relieve the stress and emotions of everyday life, visiting a trained physician isn't always the answer. There are other methods besides lying on a brown, leather couch to help ease your worries. Not to say there is anything wrong with therapy because sometimes it's the only resort.
This hard-working businessman has taken a different approach to receive the needed therapy to make it week-to-week.
Over the past five years or so, primetime television viewers have been bombarded by reality shows, most of which are not too appealing to the eye, which is quite funny since you watch television.
Anyways, about a year ago, a reality show that actually means much more to its participants besides money first aired. To be a winner on the show you don't have to eat rotten, maggoty cheese; live on a deserted island or risk public humiliation to win. In fact, you don't have to even be on the show to be a winner if viewed properly.
The show, which airs every Sunday night on ABC, is Extreme Makeover: Home Edition. The show doesn't give more to the rich and famous or seek the negatives in others in hopes of receiving cheap laughs. It offers comfort and financial assistance to those who need it the most.
Each Sunday night, after a long, hard work week, this businessman tunes into the hit television show and uses the cast of designers and builders as therapist. You might not believe it, but watching the show is quite therapeutic.
The crew wakes up a different family each week with a big "good morning," sends them on a week-long paid vacation and rebuilds their home to help them better their and their children's' lives. A lot of times the families can't afford to fix their homes, which are full of mold, drainage problems and other tribulations that may cause harm down the road.
The twist of most of the shows is that the family usually has a handicapped member that can't function in the home without improvements. The show has featured a deaf couple with an autistic child and a 15-year-old son that takes care of them all, two homeless families that needed a warm home in order to prevent putting their children on a bus in order to keep them warm and most recently a five-year-old boy with a brittle bone disease who was afraid of his parents' home because the floors were hard and he was scared of breaking another bone after breaking over 20 in the past.
Each week, Extreme Makeover: Home Edition is a tear jerker. It helps to put life in perspective and help you to realize that even though you may be tired and worn out or might need some extra money, it could be a lot worse.
So next time you're complaining about your worries, tune in to ABC on Sunday nights and save your co-pay.
Adam Prestridge is the publisher for the Atmore Advance. His column appears weekly.