Watching or playing? ( flyster)

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The value in a baseball game is being created by the pitcher, the center fielder,
the umpire, even the hot-dog vendor—rarely by the spectator. The value in television
news is being created by the producer, the reporter, the anchor—rarely by the
spectator. Many people live their lives as if the world would come crumbling
down if they were not personally aware of all the goings-on in the world, as
reported by CNN. It won’t.


As with all drugs of the mind, there is a certain short-term pleasure in spectator
sports,. This short-term pleasure serves to distract us from the fact that we’re
not on purpose. Like all drugs, these pastimes hook us by giving us a high level
of initial enjoyment. Later, the enjoyment tapers off, but we keep watching,
habituated, forgetting that we aren’t having fun any more.

The same goes for watching television, reading news, viewing pornography—all
these provide empty promises to the spectator. We become like the poor “Waldos”
in strip clubs, spending their paycheck on Friday nights watching girls undress
with no hope of ever being with them in a real way, no hope of ever being more
than a spectator.

The antidote to this drug addiction is participation. Find the smallest way
to participate that creates value for you, that is on purpose. Dare to have
an effect on the universe. Take a stand, interact with another human being,
play. Even if you are not yet clear about your life purpose, from participation
comes information, and from information can come clarity.

When the ballgame is over, the players, win or lose, can feel the sweat drying
over their well-used muscles, can spit out the grit caked on their tongue and
know deep inside that tonight they did something other people cared about. The
spectators, fumbling to kick-start their brains so that they can hold an unfamiliar
semblance of a conversation with their companions, go off in search of their
next beer.

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