A lot of money is always twice what you have. After one Lion we want two. A 4:19 marathon should be after 4:15. Agency of the Year twice asks for the third time after that. A good design demands a better one in a row. A success today leads us to want a bigger one. They are targets on the move.
On the subject of professional careers, they resemble a hamster spinning without reaching any destination. In the entrepreneurial zone, growth is not optional but a matter of survival. In the lifeline, it ends up turning us into eternal seekers of one treasure after another. The emotional peaks of an achievement are temporary and the new goal becomes the next peak.
On a definitive and permanent note, I have never heard anyone say, “I am finally satisfied.” And while I have heard “I am at peace,” we seldom recognize the trap of success and activity that the culture puts us in. Moving targets lead us from one achievement to another, from one goal to another, from one success to another. It is a transactional and almost always incremental approach that compels and pressures us.
I have a friend who one day said “no more.” He quit and retired under the idea that he had enough. I admire and respect him, first for the financial achievement that implies, but even more for the spiritual achievement it reflects. When I grow up I want to be like him, can you imagine how rich I would love to have the guts to say: enough!
It’s not a matter of how much you earn, it’s a matter of how much you spend. It’s not a matter of having a lot, but of sharing more. It’s not a matter of staying the same, but of choosing differently. Another friend told me that his success as an architect had him trapped and overwhelmed, because he simply wants to live his little life. What some people are dying to have, others, when they achieve it, simply discard it. The wheels turn endlessly and it seems like a dead end.
Personally I find peace when I am able to connect with a higher purpose. The moving targets stop when I place myself in service. Since I am one of those who believe that Jesus is who He said He is, I think that in Him are the answers to that thirst that cannot find refreshment anywhere else. This is very personal, as I have friends who find their source in other beliefs. However, if you ask me, I believe in the source of life that fills everything through an intimate relationship with God. Of course, since I don’t like traditional churches, my path has been through the creative path of the Openhouse. Check it out.
I imagine that like you, I have not seen God. However, the evidence for his existence is compelling. The Bible on the other hand, although I find it hard to believe in it from cover to cover, so I don’t try, is a sensational compendium of books. It is also quite clear that there was a divine inspiration in it, and that most certainly, it is true from the first page to the last. It is the message that rescues and solves the search with all the answers.
Do I stop living life for this? On the contrary, do I stop competing for this? The opposite. Do I love everyone, even my enemies? I am not a saint. Does peace come into your life? No doubt about it. Do I stop loving you more? NO, although different. Do I recommend it? Definitely.
Check out this TED talk by the author of the book “A Purpose Driven Life”, which at the beginning talks about the spiritual emptiness in those who just exist.
Moving targets have a solution. There is one that fixes and settles. The puzzle of life can be solved. There is a purpose for each one. The labyrinth has a way out. I am gradually finding it not in religion, but in relationship.