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Have you ever been addicted to watching a show or playing a game before? Have you ever thought about why you were (are) addicted to it?
Most people perceive addictions to shows or games to be a result of the enjoyment we get from watching or playing them. While this is indeed true, this is the surface-level reason. There is a reason, a deeper reason, as to why we enjoy doing these activities, and this reason may not be obvious at first sight. To illustrate what I mean, I’ll use a personal example.
Projecting Inner Desires Onto Reel Life
My Interest in Rom-Coms
For the longest time ever, I was a big fan of romantic comedies (or rom-coms). I was never a fanatic, but I would gravitate towards such films if I ever watched movies. When watching action movies or dramas, I would be intrigued by the romance subplots even if they weren’t the main highlights.
I never thought much about this interest. I just thought it was a regular girl thing. I mean, there’s a reason why they call rom-coms chick flicks, right? Most girls adore the typical romantic storyline where boy meets girl, boy and girl fall in love, both face obstacles in the course of their relationship, and they eventually overcome them to be together. Marketers know it, film executives know it, and this is why rom-coms would be released every year to great results, despite most sharing the same plotline and, at times, the same actors.
An Underlying Reason
However, there came a point when I was curious as to why I, or most girls for that matter, had this special interest in rom-coms. After all, if there is something I have learned from my work in personal development, it is that there’s always a reason for everything.
So I asked myself: “Why am I usually interested in rom-coms (or shows with romance storylines)?”
The replies I got were revealing. I realized my interest in rom-com was partly because I wanted to have the kind of romantic encounters and interactions that the characters would have. I also wanted to be in a fulfilling relationship that the female leads would usually get at the end of the shows. My interest in rom-coms and the typical boy-meets-girl plot line stemmed from my desire to have a fulfilling, romantic relationship.
Hearing this from my subconsciousness made me realize that I was subconsciously playing out my innermost desire whenever I watched movie/TV characters meet, fall in love, and get together on screen. Sometimes I would even re-watch shows just to relive the memory.
While I would feel happy each time I watched these shows, looking back, I can’t help but feel that this was only a false, feel-good factor. Watching the shows did not change anything in my reality, for my world was exactly the same before and after watching. While it might seem like a harmless pastime, in actuality, I was deferring my life with every show I watched and every character I attached myself to. Seeing the characters happy and together with the person of their dreams made me feel happy and satisfied, but the truth was that this was an intention that I had yet to realize for myself.
Deciding Between Living Through the Reels and Living in Real Life
This then brought the following question to my mind: “Would I rather watch characters play out their love lives on screen and live vicariously through them, or would I rather work on creating my own love story?”
The answer was obvious. The former would lead me to live my life through others, and these are not even real people to begin with. (Not that it would matter even if the shows were based on real people.) The latter would fulfill me more than the former ever would.
Realizing this helped me shake out of my dependency on rom-coms. In the end, I was merely using them to feel good about myself. It also got me to approach love more proactively rather than think about it in a reactive fashion. Whatever happens after that is a separate thing and not something that I have any expectations towards, but the most important thing is that I take action on my love life rather than sit on it.
(I would eventually find my soulmate and life partner 10 months after writing this post, something I wrote about here: How I Found My Soulmate (series))
Why We Enjoy Certain Movies, Dramas, or Games (The Danger of Vicarious Living)
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Now, I’m not trying to diminish the activity of watching shows or playing video games. I actually think that they make for good recreational AND educational activities. Many shows and games carry some pretty meaningful messages and values that we can learn from. I have personally learned a lot from watching shows and playing games as a child. Even today, I continue to learn a lot from them.
Not only that, but shows and games can also be great ways for us to learn about human relations, the world, different cultures, and so on. Before I traveled to the U.S., my main exposure to the country was from movies and shows. Many Hollywood movies tend to be set in New York City (or some urban, fast-moving city), while the drama series I watched (such as Buffy and Charmed) were set in west coast California.
Of course, shows and games are good ways to unwind when we just want to kick back, enjoy, and relax after a long day of work.
However, I’ve noticed that if we’re not careful, we can fall into a trap where we use movies, dramas or games to live our lives. As we see onscreen characters grow, achieve their goals, and reach life’s biggest milestones, sometimes we can mistake that as us growing, achieving our goals, and hitting our lives’ biggest milestones when none of that is happening in reality.
This is known as vicarious living, where we attach ourselves to the onscreen characters, imagine us as them, and then assume their emotions, actions, thoughts, revelations, accomplishments, and lives as ours, when they aren’t.
Vicarious living is dangerous because it gives us the illusion of growth and achievement when none of that is happening. We become wrapped up in a mental illusion that we are achieving a lot in our lives even though we might be doing absolutely nothing every day. We get this impression that we are pursuing our goals when all we are doing is merely watching the characters pursue theirs. And we might even think that we are living highly fulfilling and purposeful lives when all we are doing is just living our existence through other people — fictional characters, no less.
It’s possible that people live vicariously through real-life people, such as reality TV stars (the Kardashians anyone?), celebrities, singers, actors, famous people, and so on. That makes the situation no different than living vicariously through fictional characters. Your sense of growth, fulfillment, and accomplishment is all but an illusion.
In the more severe cases of vicarious livers, people might even think they are those characters. Think crazed fanatics and people who obsess about a certain movie, drama or game beyond the levels of a regular fan. These people dedicate their lives to that very movie/drama/game or a particular character in the movie/drama/game to the point of worship and idolatry.
When you remove those items or characters of worship, what do you have left though? There’s nothing that’s left but hollow souls because those people have basically built their entire lives around others rather than themselves. (Read more about finding yourself: Finding Your Inner Self)
Solution: Create a Life that’s More Exciting Than What You See in Movies, Dramas, and Games
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Ultimately, the reason you would want to live vicariously through the lives of others, be it a fictional character or a real person, is that you find others’ lives more interesting or exciting than yours. Your interest in them is a cue of something you want for yourself and your life, but have yet to fully achieve that yet.
For example, someone who regularly plays RPGs (role-playing games) to fill his/her time might be doing so because he/she yearns to live a more purposeful life like that of the game characters, but isn’t doing so right now. Someone who is always watching drama series might be doing so because he/she is lacking progress in his/her life whereas there seems to be so much drama happening in the characters’ lives. Someone who watches idol dramas endlessly might be looking for (more) love like what the lead characters are getting, but isn’t getting in his/her life.
So if you want to tackle this issue, if you want to break out of the invisible pull of movies, dramas, and games and live a conscious life in reality, what you need to do is to simply create a life that’s so exciting that you want to be in the real world 100% of the time. This life should be much more exciting than that of the characters’ lives in movies, dramas, and games.
Here’s how to do that in just two easy steps:
- Identify what’s so exciting or interesting about the movie, drama or game. If you want to watch this show or play this game, there must be something enticing you about it. What is that? This is precisely the reason you would rather spend time in this reality rather than your present reality. Identifying this is the first step.
- Figure out how you can start realizing this in your life today. By bringing that into your reality, you are realizing your desire in the real world rather than in reel life. This marks the point where you break out of passive living and actively manifest what you want into your life.
Example #1: Desire for Social Connection
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There were times in the past when I would get engrossed in Let’s Plays (game playthroughs with commentaries by the players themselves). Besides my interest in the games themselves, I found that this was because listening to the players’ commentaries (which were often times quite funny) made me feel like I was in the company of a friend, a close friend.
Hence, I was drawn to the videos because they provided me with a sense of social connection which I would not get if I were to, say, write or work.
This was then a clue that I was not having enough social activities and I should increase my level of social activity every week. So I did just that. I began to arrange meetups with my close friends, as well as friends I had not been connecting with for a while. Every week, I made sure to have at least three social appointments. At the moment I’m averaging (at least) four to five meet-ups every week, and it’s making me feel absolutely awesome and energized.
Subsequently, my desire to watch such videos decreased, save for instances where I’m just looking to kick back, relax, and enjoy after a long day of work.
Read:
- How Do I Meet Like-Minded People?
- 10 Useful Tips To Make New Friends | Manifesto version
- The Secret To Meaningful Social Relationships (How to Remove Social Anxiety)
Example #2: Desire for More Action in Life
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Another example is someone who loves action movies and spends a big chunk of his pastime watching them.
When he looks deep into this interest, he realizes it’s because his current life is too boring, too mundane. He works in a job that bores him. His routine is the same every week. He rarely goes out and when he does, it’s the same one to two friends he has known since high school. He craves for a life of more excitement and watching action movies helps him channel that pent-up desire.
What’s the resolution for such a situation then? Simple: Start doing things that actually excite him. For example, finally quitting that job he feels “meh” about and pursuing what he really, really likes, which is music. Adding more activities into his weekly routine. Taking the step to know more people, such as people who are into music as well, while keeping in touch with current friends.
As he does this, he realizes that action movies become less and less exciting for him. Today, he finds that his life is so exciting that he would much rather spend his days writing songs and playing music or hanging out with his new buddies rather than watching movies all day long, which is something he used to do in the past.
Read: Not Getting What You Want? Time To Change Your Actions
Example #3: Desire for Romance
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A third example is someone who is enamored with the romance movies and idol dramas (like I used to be). Why is this so? Perhaps he/she wants to have more romance in his/her life but isn’t getting it. Perhaps he/she is in a relationship at the moment but the relationship isn’t as fulfilling as he/she thought it would be.
What’s the action step for such a situation then?
If the person is looking to be in a relationship, then he/she should take a more proactive approach to meet compatible people. Personally, I just signed up for Lunch Actually, a premier matchmaking service, because I want professionals to help me find someone compatible, and also because I want to meet people who actually are a good match with what I’m looking for (over hitting the pub or going out with the random guy who hits on me on the street).
For others, they might find that online dating works better for them or getting friends to set them up is a better approach. Different people have different preferences, and it’s most important that you do what is most comfortable for you.
Of course, note that it’s not about going all out just to get a romantic partner. That might suggest certain fear-based factors at work. Be open to being in a relationship and knowing more people and meeting more people. At the same time, work on your goals and your life, and don’t define yourself by whether you have a romantic partner or not.
Read:
On the other hand, if the person is already in a relationship and feels that it’s lacking romance, then he/she should work on that. Perhaps he/she can take the first step in increasing the romance factor by giving his/her partner random surprises, being more physically affectionate, and so on. His/her partner might reciprocate from there. If the situation doesn’t improve, then he/she should talk it out with his/her partner in an amiable, non-confrontational manner.
Read: What Can I Do If I Want To Change Someone?
Example #4: Desire for Family Connection
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The last example is of someone who enjoys watching family dramas or shows where there are positive displays of family relationships. Reason? Because the person has an estranged relationship with his/her family members and secretly longs for the same kind of relationship with them. Personally, I used to love watching displays of family affection on television for this very reason, as I mentioned in How I Found Peace in My Relationship with My Parents, Part 1: A Child’s Wish.
For such an individual, the next step then is to work on improving his/her relationship with his/her family. Perhaps he/she can reach out to his/her family members. Perhaps he/she can make it a point to do one act of kindness for each of them every week. Perhaps he/she can schedule to have a family dinner every weekend. Perhaps he/she can arrange for some common activity to do with his family, say fishing, going to church (if that’s what they do), going to the park, going on a road trip, and so on.
Read the 4-part series on How To Improve Your Relationship With Your Parents
Final Words
The end result of your actions is that you’ll now have a life that is so exciting, so fun, and so fulfilling, that you would much rather live in it any time, any day, than do anything else.
For me, I have found that the more I work on realizing my goals and dreams, the less appealing summer blockbuster movies and fancy new games are to me. Whilst I used to spend the better half of my days watching shows and playing games, today I’m more interested in writing articles, recording new web lectures, creating great value content, building my business, connecting with friends, and meeting new people. These things are a whole lot more exciting to me than many shows and games out there today.
I hope you’ve found this article useful. :) If you know anyone who might find this article useful, please pass it his/her way.
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How relevant! I have been thinking lately about how much time I spend reading blogs and stories online… it’s time to think about why I read the ones I do and make my life more exciting!
Thanks for the great post (shared with 2 friends already)!
Thanks Irvin! I really appreciate you sharing the article with others. :D I hope your friends will find it useful as well. You are definitely right that vicarious living can occur by way of reading blogs/others’ lives too.
Another great article! What I like is that it addresses the cause instead of the symptom.
I keep thinking to that analogy as I read this article. The movies / dramas / games are like painkillers to those who have back or neck pain. It relieves short term pain but does nothing long term. What the person really need is to address the muscle strength or posture or whatever that is underlying problem.
Good stuff and you’re right that it hit us (or me at least) in the heart. Keep up the great work!
Thank you Mikey! :D I like the analogy you have used regarding the shows and games being painkillers that ease the short-term pain but not the long-term situation. By understanding this, it’s a huge step that will help us break out of the situation. The next step, then, is to take the proper action to address whatever is causing the pain in the first place.
Ceres you’ve got it so right. I spent the best part of my teenage years reading books and watching certain tv shows religiously for their female characters because I was desperate to be like them.
While I’m incredibly grateful for the strong role models they provided for me (attitude and health wise) its a dangerous situation for a 14 year old girl to be in when all she does is watch tv shows and make websites about the characters…
Now 22 I realise this and am so conscious of it. I won’t stop rewatching these shows for fun (very occasionally!) but filling my own life and achieving the path I want now takes precedence.
Thanks for a great, relevant read.
That’s awesome that you realized that for yourself, Alice! I think teen years are the very years when many of us watch TV, play games, and essentially build our identities around others. Like you said, there are probably things we can learn from following those shows and characters, ultimately we need to break out of that and build our lives around ourselves. I think it’s incredible that you’re already working on this at the tender age of 22! I sense there’s greatness for you in the future, Alice! :D
i can relate to this post so much Celes, especially since i had Maladaptive daydreaming disorder, some days can be hard, i even think that my life is made from a lot of TV series, i saw a reflection of my self as i watched it back, and i need a constant reminder that my real life is the one worth living for, after that i usually became much more productive, i think stay focus on your dream and what you want to get out of life helped some much. Excellent post :)
I would like to add listening to music to the list.
Music can be great, & inspire people to pick up an instrument, learn to play, & form a band. It can also de-motivate (some) people to do nothing in their life. This is lifestyle of the person, not the actual music.
I have known so many people from many years ago who’s sole direction in life is obsessively listening to (heavy metal) music & following bands. Almost 20 years later, they havn’t even evolved, still dressing the same way, still talking about the same things, & still sitting in the same corner of the same pub.
Sure, I used to do this when I was 18 & I today still like to chill out to a CD at the end of a days adventures. I very quickly grew out of it. Now I have progressed in life, got older & more mature I have found far more challinging, interesting, active & fullfilling activities in life, that bring direction, passion & meaning to life. Things that are far better than sitting on my backside all my life listening to music.
I find it really funny (& rather sad), because it is always negative people who haven’t progressed in life, aren’t passionate about anything in life are always (without fail) those people who criticise the lifes of those who get up & truely live life to the full, for not being one of “them”.
They haven’t got any dreams of their own to follow, so they follow the lives of someone else: celebrities, singers, footballer, actors, bands.
Blue Skies.
Extremely relevant post. It was for these exact same reasons that I gave up playing “the Sims” a few years ago. I got to the point where I was putting hours and hours into building lives for my virtual characters, but not having anything to show for it when I turned the computer off.
One other platform I’ve noticed people tend live vicariously in is sports. I know too many people who say they live and breathe for their team and will never miss a game without their lucky T-shirt. It gives people the illusion that their action is helping the team succeed, but it doesn’t. Only the actual players are playing, and that’s a lot of pressure to put on yourself for something you have no control over.
Well, once again, thanks for the wonderful article! Keep up the good work Celes!
@celes thank you!
@laurel – likewise – I dread to think how many hours I’ve spent on that game. Probably over 300. And that’s no exaggeration… Well done for giving it up. I did as well and tried to play again a couple of months ago and lost interest within 20 minutes!
Very nice post, relevant to many people in different ways whether ’cause of games or shows!
I’ve lived vicariously through characters of favorite TV shows before, becoming relatively “obsessed” with the characters. I put that in quotes because I would put it off to the side for things I had to do (like school and such), but most of my spare time would be spent watching or thinking about stories for fan-fiction based off the show.
I’m also into games, not so much because I’m good at them but because I really enjoy living the “fantasy life” of the characters I create. I played a game called Mabinogi (where I met my best friend!) and while I was never the greatest at it, I absolutely loved playing. I would get decent at the “life skills” over the combat skills because they’d help me provide use to other players where my combat skills weren’t the best. I tried learning to fight better but I really just wasn’t that good at it. I haven’t played in a long time, but my best friend and I are thinking of getting back into it with new characters once he gets a new computer just ’cause the game has such a sentimental value for us.
I suppose my question is, what do you think of people who enjoy these games for the elements we can’t have in real life? For example, part of me always loves playing a magician class in these games, and my zest for the game comes from being able to pretend I’m a spell-caster. Would this type of enjoyment technically be vicarious living, or just real enjoyment of the game?
I’m not saying I’m not guilty of living vicariously through the game–I definitely understand the illusion of feeling as if you’ve accomplished a lot in your life because of what happens in the game–but I know at least for me a lot of the draw for these games is doing something I can’t in the real world.
Thanks for the article!
I suppose my question is, what do you think of people who enjoy these games for the elements we can’t have in real life? For example, part of me always loves playing a magician class in these games, and my zest for the game comes from being able to pretend I’m a spell-caster. Would this type of enjoyment technically be vicarious living, or just real enjoyment of the game?
Hey Alexa, great question!
The same two steps in the article still apply here, actually. What is the thing that’s so exciting or interesting about this movie or game that’s making you watch/play it? So you mentioned about the ability to pretend that you are a spell-caster. Why is that notion exciting to you? Drill it that way and you might find something interesting right there.
For example, I totally relate to what you say regarding being able to use magic in games and being excited about it. I loved Final Fantasy series, 7 and 8 especially, when I was a teenager. Drilling into this interest using the question above made me realize that the reason I was so amped up about the whole fantasy/magic world and being able to cast magic was because it made me different, unique, powerful, special, blessed with a special ability.
Translating that into the real world today, I’ve since worked on becoming an unique person in my own right, following what I want to do and being myself, vs. conforming to what others want (which I had been doing in the past without realizing it). Subsequently, magical, fantasy games simply no longer interest me anymore. I tried playing FF12 halfway and gave up because it really bored me; I didn’t play FF13 and have no interest in it or any of past or upcoming FFs for that matter. I believe they are all very kick-ass games; they simply just don’t interest me in the way they used to anymore.
I’m not saying that we can’t play games. It’s perfectly okay to just play the games to enjoy something that you can’t do in real life, like casting magic like you said. My point is that everything we enjoy in the games can almost always be linked to something that’s in our subconsciousness. Attempting to identify and pinpoint that can prove to be quite an interesting AND rewarding experience.
Of course, maybe it really has nothing to do with the subconsciousness. Maybe the person really just likes the physical act of casting magic and seeing magical spells at work. Who knows? No one will ever really know except for the individual him/herself. In the end, it’s really up to us on what/how we want to make out of it.
Lengthy reply, but hope this response helps in some way, Alexa! :)
Helpful as always, Celes! You brought up a great point I hadn’t even considered with being unique and all that, that might very well be it but I’ll probably have a little mind-dumping session to see what it’s really all about. Thanks for taking the time to respond to me!
~Alexa
I’m actually pretty surprised that i had such an aha moment. i a fan of rpg games (pokemon final fantasy etc) and watching anime and reading this i realize i can get better insight about myself and actually do something productive about what i watch and play. its actually pretty exciting to think about
You got that right, Bryan! I’m glad that you found the article useful! :)
你好， 你是中国人吗？
我想复习复习汉语，好吗？
不是， 我很喜欢你的写。
再见
你好！ ;)
Really interesting article, Celes!
I used to be addicted to a MMORPG game, TLBB Chang EU. I would play for hours everyday, not caring whether it was unhealthy to do so for both my body, mind and social life. I made a goal out of leveling up my character and getting the best equipment for it, but then – just like you said- I realized I was just wasting my time.
I had played that game for more than a year when it finally hit me that I had no social life anymore, that I was gaining weight and that my eyes needed more and more eye drops to fight the dryness and the redness caused by hours of staring at the PC screen on a daily basis.
So I decided to change the situation. I uninstalled the game and tried to reconnect with my friends. At first it was really weird, not filling my time by playing the online game, but eventually I’ve focused my attention on personal growth. The year 2012 started, then I found the Personal Excellence site and it all just nicely linked together. :)
I think that the reason I liked playing that game and I identified with the character so much was because of my low self-esteem at the time, the fear of being rejected by other people (in real life that is; on the internet I had no such fears) and my poor relationships with my parents. I’m thankful I got out of that situation and that now I’m actually using each day to better myself under various aspects.
I’m glad to be back, having all the spare time I’ve wished for during the past month, and to read all your articles, Celes! :D
I’d like to share this. As an author I had noticed what you wrote in this article since early in my journey. I used to be very attached to shows and to writing novels but by time many things changed, I changed, I got a girlfriend, etc…and that’s when I noticed that the deep reason as to why I wrote novels and such was because I craved for a romantic relationship and close friends. As soon as I started dating and got close friends, writing novels was a struggle and ,honestly, bored me. Eventually it came to me that writing was more of a hobby than a goal for me and it’s not as important as it used to be for me anymore. That’s just in my case, by the way.
I wrote out of feeling unfulfilled from my life and lived my life trough my books. Now I barely write as I am happier with my girlfriend and my friends and writing has become optional plus my writing ain’t that good and the activity of writing professionally itself also bores me. It never interested me to publish them and it makes me happier to keep them for myself or for possibly sharing them for free on the web one day. :)
I have been addicted to TV before, but seldom watch it nowadays. I especially am averse to crying dramas now (alludes to fear mentality and over- sensationalising life). My philosophy is, ‘If your life is in the toilet, flush it and move on’. If your drama character is living a great life that you want, you should create one with your own hands, too. :angel: Great post and reminder, Celes!
I also had an Aha-effect reading your article, so thank you very much for posting this.
Some years ago, I had the obsession to read fanfictions all day long.To prevent that my parents found out about it, I went to university each day, but instead of attending the classes, I went straight to the computer room and spent my time there. My favourite genre were (and are still) Drama and Angst and I think, I start to realize why.
Thanks for your comment yoshi; I’m glad the article gave you an aha moment. :) It was a very rewarding experience for me to translate my thoughts into words too. I’m a lot more conscious about how I approach reel life now. I still watch meaningful videos if there is something I can learn from them, but I no longer have any interest in past shows or shows in say, the romance genre, where I would watch as part of a self-projection. I’m now more excited about creating my own life path and life story in the areas where I used to live vicariously through characters.
Brilliant articel Celes! I can definitely relate to this. I started playing The Sims when I was about 16 (I’m now 21) and I remember giving it up after I played it for a couple of hours one night then thought ‘this is so stupid! I’ve spent hours improving the life of a game character then I switch off the computer and my homework isn’t done and a lot of other things have fallen by the wayside. Maybe I should work on MY life!’
I can also relate to the TV thing, the programmes I’m drawn to seem to reflect the areas of my life that need work. For example when my old relationship wasn’t working I was drawn to programmes where the characters were in good relationships, now I’ve finished university and don’t know what I’m doing next I seem drawn to shows that focus on characters who know what they want and are going after it. I now know I do this because I want to BE that person who has focus and drive and knows what they want to achieve. So instead of spending hours watching these shows I’ve decided to use the vast amount of free time I now have over the summer to get my own life in order. I’m sure your articles will help me lot. I’m officially an adult now and I’m done with wasting my life!
I also want to say I really like your style of writing. It feels like you help people to realise things for themselves and while you helped me realise some unpleasant things about myself, I don’t feel attacked but encouraged and motivated to changed. Thank you!
So true! The fact that the gaming industry thrive in all these years because millions of people are not living a fulfilling life. Many are looking for something more in their life, but couldn’t find it. I used to be one of them, indulging in games and drama.
Once in a while is fine for unwind, but over-doing it can become a huge issue. Thanks for writing it so clearly here.
Hi Celes, I am first time reader and first time commenter. I found this blog today after a long period of self-reflection. I was thinking about how much I love Anime and Manga (Japanese adventure cartoons and comics, which would pretty much fall along the same line as action movies and TV shows). I LOVE it. I love following the main characters on their adventures as they take on seemingly unbeatable villains, impossible challenges, making new friends, meeting new people, seeing the world, trying new things, so on and so forth, and seeing them come out on top time and time again. I love it. I get so into it that I feel like I’m accomplishing all of these great feats right alongside them, and I get such a sense of fulfillment from it. Again I say, I love it. However more and more as I’ve grown up (I’m a junior in college now), I’ve realized that because of my passion for these shows and comics, I’ve let real life pass me by the wayside. My personal growth, stepping out of my comfort zone, and accomplishing things myself in real life, have all become passive activities. I’d rather watch the heroic characters I admire accomplish incredible things than do it in my own life. This now has me kind of sad, not really depressed, but just sad that I have wasted so much time following other characters live their lives instead of living my own. I now want to stretch myself and do more with my life. I don’t want to get my sense of accomplishment from characters, but from myself and my own journey. Anyway, thanks for the insightful article, and hopefully by the time you’ve read this, I’ll already be making strides towards my goals. Thanks again,
– Andrew
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