Wanna Know What You’re Playing For?

On the CBS hit TV show Survivor, contestants, ranging from 16 to 20 people, live in the outdoors without the comforts of civilization.  They generally do not eat well, suffer through rainy nights, and sleep on bamboo, or anything else they may find in the woods, all while performing in physical challenges (Double Dare!) and playing the mental game of trying to outlast all other contestants.  At the end of each episode, all contestants come together to vote out one of them out.  Once a contestant gets voted out, they get to enjoy the rest of their Survivor time at a sequestered location called Ponderosa, where there is a personal chef and they live as if they’re on vacation.  Most contestants do not want to get voted out, since they want to win the game and the million bucks, but there is also a relief that comes after being voted out.

Last week on this show, two contestants quit the game.  Out of 20, there were 9 remaining, and they had already spent over 20 days out of 39 total days in the game.  They just couldn’t deal with the rain and starving anymore.  There aren’t that many quitters on this show, but contestants do quit every so often.  All contestants know that quitting is something they can do to remove themselves from the harsh outdoor conditions, but they almost never do since they’re there to win the game, and they can always enjoy the food and bed when the game is over.

With all these things I am trying to do, I also want to quit.  I can quit and settle into this middle class life in Ponderosa.  Compared to life of hitting comedy clubs and studying, I’m sure it will be more comfortable.  But that would mean quitting the game and giving up.  I can enjoy my free time later when I’ve finished going for my goals, but right now, I want to win this game and a million dollars.

Hmmm… I’m kind of disappointed with this blog.  When I thought of the Survivor analogy, which admittedly isn’t exactly creative, I thought I could write more about it.  But after writing this out, I realize that this analogy is really much simpler than I thought – I wrote two paragraphs about the show, and one short paragraph about how it relates to life.  In my defense, I’m writing with Jayshawn and Marty chatting away next to me while watching a TV special on SNL (future blog coming up on that), which has been very distracting.  Oh well, I’ll try to come up with a better analogy next time.