He who has a why to live can bear almost any how. - Friedrich Nietzche
Or if you live in today’s day and age - he who has cable TV and thus access to infomercials can apparently bear almost any how.
I was feeling a bit lazy on a random hot summer weekend back in the day when I was living in New York City. So, I decided to just be a couch potato with no shame, and with some munchies by my side, I made a waste of my Sunday and spent most of it watching TV…mind you, this was during my life BC (Before Child – and marriage for that matter - when resting on a sofa watching TV for a day “just cuz” was an attainable possibility). Forget the old episodes of I Love Lucy, or some soppy movie on Lifetime. I instantly became absorbed by all the infomercials that were on, aiming to improve life in every single way possible known to man. And like I said, since I was feeling low, it seemed like the perfect therapy. Or so I thought. I was absolutely amazed at how you can find the answer to every kitchen inefficiency there is (at that time in my life of "Sex and the City", the whole concept of the word “kitchen” was a total inefficiency in itself for me, so at least it gave me some hope in case my future kids and husband would be dependant on my cooking for survival at some point in our life). Then, the infomercials continued, this time for any physical problem one might have, especially the ‘sensitive’ self esteem ones such as chest enlargement magic for women and you-know-what enlargement for men! I said NO WAY! And thought that maybe I should forward that toll free number to the recent ex! Ha! At that point, I was starting to warm up! Imagine that! Then abs and bum and thigh earth shakers, then blemish and acne removers, makeup product makeovers that made the before pictures look like a past life, hair fixing and shaping and styling breakthroughs, diet plans with ‘specially formulated’ food mailed directly to your house….oh my! It kept going and going to a point where I thought that one can really sustain themselves PURELY on infomercial products and live the PERFECT life! ......... And that’s when Tony Robbins came on with his Get the Edge infomercial that was basically just supposed to not to only improve your life but to TRANSFORM IT! Wow! Imagine that….throwing all the other ones right out of the water! Awakening The Giant Within. Now considering I’m 6’1” I’d like to keep the giant to a minimum.....so I restrained myself from ordering his life transforming ‘kit’ despite the unbelievable testimonies. I figured that if its too good, it probably is too good to be true. The idea of ordering a New Life In A Box, and if you’re not happy with it (the new life that came in the box???), you can return it within 30 days GUARANTEED, was just too much. I had it with the infomercials.
Or if you live in today’s day and age - he who has cable TV and thus access to infomercials can apparently bear almost any how.
I was feeling a bit lazy on a random hot summer weekend back in the day when I was living in New York City. So, I decided to just be a couch potato with no shame, and with some munchies by my side, I made a waste of my Sunday and spent most of it watching TV…mind you, this was during my life BC (Before Child – and marriage for that matter - when resting on a sofa watching TV for a day “just cuz” was an attainable possibility). Forget the old episodes of I Love Lucy, or some soppy movie on Lifetime. I instantly became absorbed by all the infomercials that were on, aiming to improve life in every single way possible known to man. And like I said, since I was feeling low, it seemed like the perfect therapy. Or so I thought. I was absolutely amazed at how you can find the answer to every kitchen inefficiency there is (at that time in my life of "Sex and the City", the whole concept of the word “kitchen” was a total inefficiency in itself for me, so at least it gave me some hope in case my future kids and husband would be dependant on my cooking for survival at some point in our life). Then, the infomercials continued, this time for any physical problem one might have, especially the ‘sensitive’ self esteem ones such as chest enlargement magic for women and you-know-what enlargement for men! I said NO WAY! And thought that maybe I should forward that toll free number to the recent ex! Ha! At that point, I was starting to warm up! Imagine that! Then abs and bum and thigh earth shakers, then blemish and acne removers, makeup product makeovers that made the before pictures look like a past life, hair fixing and shaping and styling breakthroughs, diet plans with ‘specially formulated’ food mailed directly to your house….oh my! It kept going and going to a point where I thought that one can really sustain themselves PURELY on infomercial products and live the PERFECT life! ......... And that’s when Tony Robbins came on with his Get the Edge infomercial that was basically just supposed to not to only improve your life but to TRANSFORM IT! Wow! Imagine that….throwing all the other ones right out of the water! Awakening The Giant Within. Now considering I’m 6’1” I’d like to keep the giant to a minimum.....so I restrained myself from ordering his life transforming ‘kit’ despite the unbelievable testimonies. I figured that if its too good, it probably is too good to be true. The idea of ordering a New Life In A Box, and if you’re not happy with it (the new life that came in the box???), you can return it within 30 days GUARANTEED, was just too much. I had it with the infomercials.
Feeling completely overloaded when there was so much help ‘out there’ in the - As seen on TV - world, and at the same time so helpless from the overwhelming feeling of it all - life had suddenly become more complicated with the help of infomercials, so no simplifying there.….I decided to apply my own little solution. Took a shower, styled my hair without a breakthrough product, put on some makeup without the help of an artist selling his DVD on TV…mind you, in the state I was in that day, unless the infomercial was to sell me Michelangelo himself to fix my Sistine Chapel…it would be pointless. So I put on a pair of heels - okay I admit, the Tony Robbins infomercial was quite catchy being filmed on his Fiji island resort backdrop, so I decided to awaken the giant within with a pair of stilettos at least - and met up with a girlfriend for crepes and wine (our back then Sunday ritual). Which proved to be the best therapy of all. So instead of spending time on “As Seen on TV” products…I think the “As seen in your local cafe” time, is time well spent. Check it out next time you go to your local java place…right in front of you, without any toll free numbers, you will see how human interaction and plain ol’ friendships give us the “why to live [to] bear almost any how”.
