Living vicariously – or living

This month’s Pegasus NLP Newsletter is about the difference between living a fulfilling life and living your life second hand – i.e. really Living or living vicariously.

Many of us don’t live very fulfilling lives. We get by from day to day in comfort but without a real sense of  fulfilment i.e. the fulfilment that comes from fulfilling our personal values. We’re filling in time rather than living.

To avoid having to face this reality or the mundanity of a life that is not purposeful and fulfilling we come up with ‘things to look forward to’ such as favourite TV programmes, computer games, and especially holidays.

As a result of this much of the year can be taken up with looking forward to the holiday or looking back on one. Or in living our lives through other people as in gossip magazines, TV reality programmes, or TV knockout talent series.

(I know of people who will spend 2-4 hours nightly watching such programmes – they spend around 25% of their waking lives in front of the TV).

The danger with this is that, because everyone else appears to be doing it, it seems like a normal way to live one’s life.

Yet if you live your life according to your personal values you can have an on-going sense of fulfilment, involvement and purpose. The TV or the holiday becomes the icing on the cake rather than the cake itself!

The newsletter is posted here: http://www.nlp-now.co.uk/nlp_newsletter_current.htm