So I was on YouTube looking up a music video and the following commercial
popped up:
First off, the commercial is incredibly fun. Well done, EA.
Well done.
But what about the success of the Need for Speed franchise? I mean, it’s been an incredibly successful
video game (they have about three times the number of releases as the Grand Theft Auto series).
But what’s the allure? Why the success?
“Well, I have a theory about that.” ~ Dr. Kent Hovind
First, there’s the attraction that guys are wired for
adventure. Say what you want, but most extreme sports, stunts, and daredevils
have been by men, for men (this also explains why the WNBA is not nearly as popular as the NBA). We love the adrenaline rush from living on the edge and testing
our limits.
But from a video game?
How many guys wouldn’t love to take their car on the autobahn
in Germany (which has no speed limit for over 10% of the time, although the advised limit is 81 MPH)?
I’m not saying I’d drive like that all the time. To be
honest, I do the speed limit about 99% of the time and only do 5 over as the
exception rather than the rule.
But I also love what I refer to as “playing in traffic” –
finding a group of cars that are speeding and join in with them.
I can hear some parents cringing right now, but I’m being
honest and transparent about it; to say that it doesn't make me feel alive would be to deny my very nature as a man. Besides that, there have been too many times where I’ve held my tongue or kept
some part of me hidden because someone, somewhere, would have a problem with
it.
Hey, I’m just pointing out the elephant in the room. You can
choose to ignore it, but it’s better to point it in the right direction so it
doesn’t cause unwarranted damage.
Where was I? Oh, yeah...
Guys love adventure.
And in the hum-drum of our daily lives, there’s not a lot of
chances to live out our desire for it:
Get up.
Go to work.
Work.
Come home.
Sleep.
Repeat ad infinitum.
Oh – and a little relaxing/indulging on the weekends,
whatever that may be for you and yours.
It’s no wonder that so many men hate going to church – there’s no sense of adventure!
We get to-do lists, and morality in the form of rules and requirements
and responsibilities.
Don’t get me wrong, because I’m not saying those aren’t
important, only that they aren’t enough
for a man’s heart.
Just today I was reading in Revolutionary Road (made into a
movie with Leonardo DiCaprio and Kate Winslet) about how fundamentally unhappy this suburban husband and father
was in his life of should and ought-to rules that he had begun to live
from.
As Frank Wheeler is thinking back on his life since he’d
gotten married, had some kids, been roped into responsibilities he never
intended to get involved with (or been shouldered with prematurely), this rises up in his heart:
What the hell kind of
a life was this? What in God’s name was the point or the meaning or the purpose
of a life like this?
He’d been sucked into a life with no adventure -- just
existing.
Disclaimer: Seeking adventure doesn't replace responsibilities as a husband and/or father, but you don't have to live your life only fulfilling those responsibilities...
As the comic strip Shoe lamented just the other day:
Disclaimer: Seeking adventure doesn't replace responsibilities as a husband and/or father, but you don't have to live your life only fulfilling those responsibilities...
As the comic strip Shoe lamented just the other day:
Cosmo (above) has checked out and given in to resignation. He's given up fighting and thrown in the towel.
To quote Killian Jones from Once Upon A Time...
"A man unwilling to fight for what he wants deserves what he gets."
I'm not saying you have to fight for everything, but if you don't even pick up the hypothetical sword to at least attempt to go after it... Well, you get what you get.
Other men don't give in to resignation, though; they get angry. To put it into Fight Club terms (which is a cult classic with
men, by the way):
Where Am I Going With All This?
See, this is the point in the blog where I’m supposed to
tell you where to find adventure.
But to find that out, you have to watch the following clip (the part I’m
referring to is 5:09-5:33):
“There is one place you have not looked.”
He’s referring to the inside, in your heart.
If you want adventure, you have to look for what you love –
what makes you come alive – and go and do that.
For me -- and this is just for me, since it will look different for every man and that's okay -- a lot of it comes through physical activity by working out, but also through coaching middle school wrestling, being involved in others' lives, writing, playing drums, spending time outside.
It doesn't have to be dangerous stuff, but the point is that men are made for adventure; it is, in one way, shape, or form, hard-wired into your deep, masculine heart. To deny it is to repress it and force it to re-emerge in ways that you wouldn't expect (or probably want).
To harness it, though, and see what it will do and where it will take you...
That's where the fun begins.
Quick Word of Warning
Don’t be deceived by false adventures, though. Look for
something authentic and lasting (video games and just about anything on the internet
falls in the category of false adventures, *cough* Farmville *cough*).
Get away from the TV.
Get away from the computer.
Shoot, get away from the cell phone and iPod.
Go find something that gives you soul space where you can come alive.
And have some fun with it. :-)
