Are you a spectator or player in life?

Hey bloggers,

Do you watch other people live their lives?  Do you not even know anyone else is living?  Is your life dedicated to helping others?

'Are you a spectator or player in life or a bit of both?'

We are always seeking labels to pin on people to explain them though; there is also a large number of us that try to apply labels to ourselves to describe our feelings, emotions or actions just so we know we are 'normal'.  I have to admit to being a label man, I will try to put labels on people, but I tend to devise my own labels.  One of the biggest things I have been thinking about at the moment is who is a spectator of life and who is a player?  What defines them?

The following remember is my own opinion and may not conform to anyone else’s.  First I think we should begin by defining the two terms in context.  A spectator is someone who watches others carry out actions and a player is someone who carries out the actions.  Though, can a spectator still carry out actions?  Can a player still spectate?  I believe they can.  Characteristics within us are normally defined by the most dominant traits we show.  So, therefore we can be a spectator or player but have qualities from the other side.  Here is an example to explain a bit further.

Good parents are players that spectate their work.  Though, I'd class them more as players as they form strong bonds with their children.  Parents will raise children to follow their own views and be, almost, models of them.  Later on in life, they are then able to spectate their children's lives and may become slightly detached as they are not spending anywhere near as much time with them as before.  This can be quite sad for many people.  So, can parents be classed as players that speculate their work?

Hang on a second you say, most people turn out to be parents.  Well that is true, but not all people decide to build strong bonds with their children, not all people decide to raise their children and not all people choose family life over career.  This nicely brings us onto spectating.  Careers that involve helping others like doctors, teachers and even lawyers, to a degree, can be seen as spectators.  They spectate with intervention.  If a doctor sees someone who is ill, they will step in to that person’s life and then step out again.  Though we call them spectators as no long term bonds have been made.  This scenario can be applied to both teachers and lawyers (many other jobs too but these are the first ones that popped into my head.)

I feel there are many different types of player or spectator we can be and I have started to list them: spectating with intervention, negative spectating, envious spectating, content spectating, lonely spectating, appreciative spectating, selfish playing, helpful player, positive playing, family playing or lonely playing.

Do you think you can place yourself into any of the above groups?  Do you think you could place yourself in another group?  Let me know in the comments below and follow me here or on Twitter@

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