Everybody has an obstacle

I have a weird guilty pleasure.

(Of course it's weird. It's a guilty pleasure, for God's sake. The very notion of "guilty" requires some weirdness. But I digress.)

I absolutely love watching true-life stories about people who lose a lot of weight through extreme surgery. I'm talking 700-lb or half-ton weight kind of stories.

I find each story fascinating in a different way. For some, it's the gory surgery footage (it's incredible how 45 pounds of skin can be removed from a person). For others, it's the journey they took to get to where they are now. And for others still, it's simply the fascination of seeing how their horrible "support system" has led them to this place (with a mother like that, it's a wonder you came out alive at all).

I don't like the stories that end badly. I know that's reality, and bad stuff happens all the time, but I prefer the tried and tested "sticking my head in the sand" method of dealing. I want to see someone overcome an obstacle. I want to witness their transformation. I want to believe in a GD happy ending once in a while!! Is that so much to ask?

I truly believe that the underlying message in all the stories is hope: for a new look, a new experience, or a new way of life. And that's just so inspiring. When you watch these stories, and see the struggles these people endure to overcome their challenges, it's very emotional...for me, anyway. I just like things to be good, and when people can go from bad to good, it feels good to share some part of that with them.

Hmmm...maybe that isn't such a "guilty" pleasure after all.