I learned to ski when I was a teenager and can hold my own on intermediate and even advanced intermediate slopes. So, what possessed me to take up snowboarding this past week at Winter Park when I could have looked so much more stylish skiing upright with the Creighton students who attended our ski vocation vacation? Why would I want to learn something new, enduring physical and potentially psychological pain, when I was already skilled at a similar task? What motivates our behavior?
Starting in the 1920’s, the drive theory of motivation was all the rage among psychologists. This perspective held that humans have a number of drives, mostly biological, that we are motivated to fulfill following deprivation. The more we were deprived of something we need, the stronger is our drive to forget all else and simply meet that need. Food is a classic example as all of us can relate to how hard it is to concentrate on anything when we have skipped a day’s worth of meals. Drive theorists suggested the ideal state for humans was homeostasis, which literally means “staying the same.” Homeostasis is presumably the ideal state where we are deprived of no needs, have no drives and are essentially devoid of motivation to do anything.
Snowboarding points to one major problem with this model. The fact is that as humans we are never content to simply “veg out” and do nothing for very long. Homeostasis is not an ideal state for us. We get bored. We seek out challenges. We crave newness and growth, ironically, even while we resist all evidence of change. Theologians suggest that this desire inside us that never lets us rest IS God. That restlessness is God himself, giving us a yearning that finds no true peace during our lived lives. Again, St. Augustine suggests that yearning is only squelched when we are united with God. God is within us, fueling us with desire, seeking God’s self.
So, why take up snowboarding during your late 30’s? Because as much as I love skiing, I saw teenagers riding a board with their left foot forward, then their right, then turn backwards, complete a 360 and move forward once again. And, I wanted to know what that felt like. I had to know. Now safely back in my own bed in Omaha, I sleep soundly even as I tend my wounded shoulder and sore neck. It was worth it. I pushed my body, my personal limits, and my experiences. I felt God as I respected my yearning to snowboard, even as I realize my existential restlessness will never be squelched.
Wednesday, January 10, 2007
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