Abolish Vicarious Living Now

I think our modern lives have us living much too vicariously. We are voyeurs more than actors actively living and shaping our own lives. We watch too much TV, spend too much time on line, and our ideas of doing something are often rather limited and uninspired. 

We seem to be cultivating habits that foster a rather shallow experience of life. 

WHY?! We definitely have options people!

The world is full of opportunities for pushing our edges, stepping out of the boxes we are often conventionally confined to and fulfilling whatever potential we may have been born with. 

This potential is a gift, one that requires care and cultivation if it is to augment our lives with an increased sense of vitality and connection to life. To illustrate, let me share a personal story.

I became a rock climber one day, by virtue of a whim to attend a weekend rock-climbing school I saw advertised in the post office when I lived in Whitehorse, Yukon Territory. I had no idea what I was getting into. I think I was just curious, however, I discovered an activity that changed my life.

On the first day, I found myself halfway up a 30-foot cliff face terrified and unable to proceed further for the fact that I could not see where my next handhold was, and, worse, my next foothold. Tears in my eyes, I begged to be let down. I was absolutely convinced that I could not finish the climb, but my desperate request was met only with patient amusement and the encouragement to at least make one more move, deal being that if that move failed, then they would let me down.

I could feel anger rising in me at the powerlessness of my situation, so I agreed and made a very awkward, but nevertheless successful, move upward, at which point it was clear as to how to make my way to the top.

Upon reaching the top I was a quivering mass of jello, shaken, but relieved and happy to be finished. More than that, though, I had to confront my mistaken belief that I could not make the climb. 

I truly and deeply believed that the task in front of me was not within my ability to accomplish, and now I had to confront what else in my life I may have mistakenly believed myself incapable of without really giving it a fair shot, and then another fair shot!

What I am saying is that it is important to get out there and do something tangible and challenging if you want to experience more vitality and satisfaction in your life. 

It doesn’t need to be rock-climbing it could be knitting, juggling, dog training, calligraphy, painting, canoeing, running, dancing, cooking—whatever appeals to you, whatever you feel drawn to that inspires enthusiasm and interest. 

Just keep it in the real world and put your whole self into it. No lame or half-hearted attempts allowed! ;)

Living with greater depth is the result of cultivating deep experiences (duh!), the sort of experiences that push our edges. 

Whether, and in what manner, we meet the challenges that are inevitably part of these experiences has everything to do with what degree of vitality is present in our lives. 

Don’t give up too soon. Remember, you are capable of much more than your limited ideas of yourself probably allow.

 It’s a big, beautiful and endlessly inspiring world out there…get interested and go forth!