Life is not a spectator’s sport,

if you want to be entertained, you will;

as life will offer you countless options

to choose from a never-ending carousel.

But once the show is over,

the fun and the thrill of it all 

will escape you in a hurry,

as being a spectator makes it impossible

to capture and retain

the passion and the purpose of what others did.

Feeling good for long never happens to the bystander,

as the emptiness of a life without meaning

will sink and settle in

when you are alone at night with your own pillow.

You can yell, scream, celebrate and rejoice

the victories and defeats of others all you want,

but it’ll be only for a fleeting moment,

because in the end, you are still you

and nothing has happened.

Life, to the contrary, is a participant’s sport

where you play with passion and purpose

and this in turn brings happiness and meaning,

and those last only as long as

you continue to burn and churn

pouring your heart into everything that you do.

A life with passion and purpose

is one where you are its leading participant.

It’s a life where you rise and fall, you win and lose,

you love and in return are loved back,

where you give a lot more that you receive or take in.

It’s a life where you dare, endure and stumble,

but never stop trying or give up!

It’s a life where you are endlessly curious and always learning.

It’s a life in which you are totally immersed and involved.

It’s a life with meaning, it’s a life at its fullest.

It is a life where happiness is not pursued but ensues

as a result of your deliberate involvement

in a wholesome living experience.

Because in the end what you really want is existential success,

what you are really after is vital achievement.

But there is no success or achievement

of any kind as a spectator,

only fun and intensity

that are both shallow and passing.

Success or achievement do not belong

to the spectators or bystanders,

they belong to life’s players, those that are involved,

“The Participants.”

Life’s true success is being happy,

happiness is the highest level of success,

one where you can never cease to be totally engaged in,

one whereby you create virtuous circles, that never end.