HOW TO BEAT STRESS TV

Feeling Anxious? Overwhelmed? It Could Be Stress TV.

Property Bros via globeandmail.com

Most of the time competition makes it clear who winners and losers are.

It’s not a guessing game.

In auto races the first one across the finish line is the winner.

Waving a checkered flag helps.

If that’s not enough, watch for someone gargling milk at the Indy 500.

At Daytona, the finisher smoking their tires at the end is the winner.

Drag strips show the first popped parachute. That’s your winner.

For team sports, check the scoreboard, then yell, “Scoreboard.”

Boxing is harder without a knockout. Leave the decision in the hands of judges and you never know what might happen.

Overall, sports fans have it easy. They know who to root for, who to root against. The games are stressful, but in the end you get definite results.

The Food Network and HGTV are a whole other problem.

How to you pick a winner? Should you?

Too many viewers watch food shows and house shows like Chopped and Love It or List It without picking a winner.

They say they watch for ideas, not winners and losers.

“I like learning new cooking concepts and design fusion,” they say.

Ignoring the competitive nature is the first sign of stress TV.

Broadcast sports come packed with stress, but you don’t leave with it.

There’s always a chase, a trail to the finals, a journey to begin.

As fans we jump right in. We chase the titles, pound the trail, take the journey. Then it’s over.

Fans of the Cooking Channel and HGTV who ignore the competition feel empathy for all the characters and it overwhelms them.

The problem is they don’t know why they feel so overwhelmed.

It’s stress TV and the stress leaks into the rest of their lives. They don’t blame their favorite shows but they should.

You beat stress TV by taking a side.

Pick your favorite and stick with them.

When someone serves undercooked meat, blame the judge for not understanding pork tartar.

A couple with a realtor can’t decide which house they like? Pick one for them.

If you think you’re going crazy and you watch house and food shows for ideas, not winners, now you know why.

Pick one Property Brother over the other. They won’t hate you.

Pick an Iron Chef favorite. It’s not poison.

No one gets this better than sports fans. Especially bandwagon sports fans who jump from one frontrunner to the next.

You can have a favorite, but you won’t have to die for them.

The same fun of watching any ballgame comes with any competitive show.

While everyone on cooking shows seem like good sports, each of them feels like they’re better than the others.

That’s the feeling you want. They might be better than you, but if they win, you win.

Feeling like a winner is the ultimate prize. It won’t last, and neither will the stress from stress TV.

It just feels that way.