Like many people, I once wondered what the point of those extreme sports are. Mountain biking, BASE jumping, kayaking, skiing: you’re just putting yourself at grave risks for a fleeting shot of adrenaline. It’s all so pointless!
But then, the other day I read a great post from an ‘adrenaline junkie’ in which he outlines his reasoning for doing extreme sports. This is in response to another post saying that “living needn’t be jumping off a cliff”:
Objectively speaking the meaning of life comes from us evolving with the sole purpose of perceiving and interacting with the world. […] The moment you step off that cliff willingly when every part of your being tells you NO. You go into a state of mind that brings you closer to what is real than anything will ever bring you. You see everything so clear, your mind is clear, nothing else matters but the singular task at hand, everything that has evolved to make you fires off at 1000% and you become what you were meant to be. So in those few moments objectively speaking you are closer to your designed purpose and the true meaning of life than any other moment in your existence.
This is one of the most profound text, packed with truths and wisdom, that I’ve ever read — all in just about 100 words.
The meaning of life, at the end of the day, is a collection of biological functions. We are all overly evolved living organisms trying to survive, reproduce, and interact with the world. Isn’t it what it all boils down to?
What extreme sports do bring is the feeling of being completely alive. In a brief, fleeting moment, you have to be fully focused on surviving, and all of your senses — sight, smell, tough, movement — are firing off at full capacity.
My Moment of Feeling Alive
I remember during a couple of runs, I had that feeling of being alive. I wasn’t running in the wilderness, traversing rugged terrains or scaling mountains or anything. Just running around a lake in a park in a city.
But still, in those short moments, I can feel my heart beating, my lungs expanding, air going in and out of my nose. The wind is pounding against my chest, my legs are turning; my bare feet striking the ground, my core tight, my back tensed and upright; sweating dripping down my face. I feel every single muscle and sense of my biological body in action. My entire being is at one, going in seemingly perpetual motions; one with the Earth.
Sure it’s just a guy jogging in a park and I’m probably making it sound more grandiose than it really is. But it’s my little moment of feeling the full force of life flowing through my body, and it’s fucking glorious.
The Meditative Effects
With a bit further reading into the topic, I found another article by an extreme sports enthusiast who goes into the mindfulness and meditative aspects of these activities.
The author says that mindfulness, in its many forms and means of achievement, is essentially all focused on one thing: to forget about everything that has occupied your mind and to fully concentrate on the present moment.
People spend years trying to achieve this state of mind, of total calmness and focus. Some practises yoga, some becomes religious/spiritual, some does it through a sport or a particular activity. Hell, Bill Gates even says that he enjoys washing dishes, presumably for its meditative effects.
I think it’s important to find your zen — that place where you can be fully in the present, with nothing but the task at hand. I’ve found it through running and writing. I might give those extreme sports a try. Something simple and cheap like trail running should be a good start since it’s what my body is familiar with the most now. And plus, I can’t really afford the gears for stuff like mountain biking or surfing.