Photo by Jonathan Francis on Unsplash

Death by Social Media…and the Dangers of Pushing the Boundaries Too Far

As someone who adores epic sports, and who continues to participate in many of them despite some equally-epic injuries, I have been noting with increasing discomfort the number of people who are dying almost daily as a result of the ego-driven need to outdo everyone else.

Look, I love to push my boundaries. However, given that I’m no elite athlete, not ever and never will be, my boundaries are sometimes strictly defined. That’s driven by a combination of my age, athletic ability, injury history and my willingness to both work out like a banshee and and suffer the cost of inevitable wipe-outs. As someone plenty of TBIs already, I can’t afford too many more conks to the coconut. That tempers my enthusiasm even as I get on yet another horse, climb in another kayak, head up another mountain.

None of these endeavors is driven by the need to prove myself better than someone’s selfie or Instagram post. I happen to love what I do. To be in the wild, ride a magnificent horse, kayak the open seas. Social media isn’t my motivation. My wild and untrammeled heart is.

So it is for those of us who throw ourselves into our sports of the love of it, not for the likes of it.