Living vicariously is not really living

We all do it: read about adventures we’d like to have, watch programs on exotic places we’d like to go, buy gossip magazines about celebrities we’d like to be, or play video games of characters we wish we were.  Okay I don’t buy the gossip rags, but a LOT of people do. 

What is it that actually holds us back from the things we really want?  Apathy, time, money, obligations, self doubt, fear?  If you’ve always wanted to learn the Samba, then take a dance class.  If your goal is to be a cage fighter, then buy some Affliction shirts and find a dojo.  If your lifelong dream is to visit the Pantheon, then get your ass to Rome (give up lattes, shop sales, chaperone an Italian class…).  As Tim Robbins said in Shawshank, “It simply comes down to this, Get Busy Living, or Get Busy Dying.” 

Which leads me to my newest quote:

“Living vicariously is not really living.”