There really is a physical universe out here, beyond the frontier of the internal world of our meat suits. This external world is quantifiable and has no regard for our opinions. That’s where life happens; it’s happening now. The only thing that produces results is action, and when I am taking action I am participating. Participation is action: communicating, traveling to places, moving of objects, the chewing of food. It’s the actual interaction with life out here.
In a simulated life, I click and action happens. I’m detached from these actions, and I become a voyeur in a world that is separate from me. When I am in the shower, that is my experience. There is nothing abstract or theoretical about that shower. It’s really happening, and I’m really wet. When I click the existential action button on Player One (the actual physical being I am in the physical world), I actually sit at the keyboard and peck away in real time, one letter after another. There is nothing theoretical or abstract about it. Knowledge is power, and life is not theoretical. All the knowledge I possess exists solely in my internal world. and my actions happen out here in the world around me, not in my head.
Obviously, without intention or motive very little wold be accomplished. Motivation and empowerment give us the courage and freedom to create the results we want, and the opportunity to take action, but if I don’t go to the bathroom I’m likely to wet myself. Being motivated doesn’t clean the dishes, my actions do. Inspiration, empowerment, motivation, intention , and survival are much of the foundation of what has us take action in life, and the action called breathing is one I cannot live without. The source of action lies in our perception of the world, and without action it’s all just a good idea.
Motivation doesn’t make the difference, action does. And as simple as clear as that thought may be, it is entirely theoretical unless it is happening, moment by moment. Like a trained flea, I shower every morning, though the creature that inhabits my body when I wake up is not a very motivated fellow. That is somewhat common occurrence for our kind. Being inspired to be clean and getting wet are not the same thing.
Participation fundamentally involves other people. If I choose to live a self-aware life, it will inevitably involve interaction with others. The number of people that participated in enabling me to type these words is almost beyond imagination. The miners of metal and employees of the companies who made their equipment. Transportation companies and the people who make their vehicles. Designers and builders of computers, and the people who build the machines they use, the people who maintain the power grid, the internet, the economic system, all the way down to the civilized people I share my city with, who do not break down my door and shoot me in the face while I complete this.
This interconnected web of human participation may be immense, and it’s mostly theoretical.
As a coach, I give people the opportunity to empower and inspire themselves, and to create exactly what they want. Perhaps of far more importance is that the people in my life take bolder action than they have before, and do so consistently. A great coach doesn’t just leave people with fulfillment and satisfaction, their clients take their performance to a whole new level in the world of action: the physical universe.
In our internal worlds we inhabit, experience is synonymous with quality of life. In the external world, there is simply action.
There is always another action to take. Take a bold one now, simply because you can.
