Vicarious Living

May 6

He lives vicariously…through himself. -The Most Interesting Man In The World (Dos Equis Commercial)

Parents do it through kids, friends do it through friends. It happens when you watch television shows, sports games, and internet videos. You envy someone else’s life. They have it better than you. Or maybe they just have the opportunity to have it better than you.

Instead of discovering all that you can do with what you have, you choose to focus your attention on someone else. Their success is your success. Except it really isn’t. It’s still their success. At best, the focus of your attention will give you credit and thanks. At worst, you get nothing.

Why live a life that is so unfulfilled? (I feel rather like I am a motivational speaker right now.) But there is so much to be content with! I can enjoy The Biggest Loser because it is (at its root) about people learning that they can achieve what they could only dream about before.

It is fantastic to be glad that someone has gone and done something great. But I can’t help but always wonder at people when they don’t realize that they could get places that they never dreamed of as well. So while we were not created simply for earthly pleasures, life was definitely not meant to be watched either.