Earlier this month, Nik Wallenda walked across Niagara Falls on a tightrope. He was the first person to cross the gorge in over a hundred years, and the first person ever to do it over the brink of the falls. Walking across Niagara Falls had been his dream since he was six years old. And now he’s done it! Congratulations to Nik for making his childhood dream a reality!

His next walk will be across the Grand Canyon…

While I know Nik loves what he’s doing and I hate to question his motives, I do have to wonder why he keeps choosing such iconic locations to set up his tightrope. Doing so makes these events seem like little more than publicity stunts done for fame, recognition, and notoriety. If he were to set up his tightrope in some nondescript location, no one would care.  If not for Niagara Falls being the backdrop of his latest performance, ABC wouldn’t have broadcast the event live, and there wouldn’t have been hundreds of newspaper and blog articles written about him.

Although Nik holds six Guinness records and comes from a family with a long history of daredevils, his name isn’t one most people would recognize. These events, along with a reality show and an autobiography, will surely help elevate his celebrity status…

You might not know that there are people out there everyday walking across canyons hundreds of feet deep with little fanfare, no media hype, and without a $1.3 million dollar budget. The networks aren’t broadcasting these “events” live on primetime TV to 13.1 million viewers. There aren’t crowds of 120,000 spectators cheering them on. These guys and girls are out there for love and passion.

It’s human nature to want to be recognized for our actions. But when our actions are motivated more by the recognition than by desire, passion, and love, we’re placing more value on the opinions of other people than we are on our own sense of accomplishment. If we’re doing what we love, just being able to do it is reward enough. There’s no need for fame, fortune or notoriety.

Never chase love, affection, or attention. If it isn’t given freely by another person, it isn’t worth having.

If you’re doing something that matters, the recognition will follow. If you’re living passionately, people will pay attention. Let the attention you receive from others be the by-product of your actions, not the driving force. Our actions shouldn’t be motivated by the attention we’ll receive. We shouldn’t spend our lives trying to impress other people. We should live our lives following our hearts and doing what we love. It should be love that is the source of our inspiration.

Love is all you need.